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Reflections

What have I learned this semester? Anime/manga is surprisingly conservative. Also I have an unsurprising tendency to ramble. Well, actually, I guess that second thing isn’t really new. 

Okay, actually. I feel like this is probably the norm, but I had a strong preference for viewing things non-critically. I don’t want to blame my 8th grade English teacher for it, but I’ll just say I thought analyzing Old Man and the Sea awful, and I still wouldn’t do it unless I was forced to. But you know what, trying to be a little more critical was fun. Maybe it was the discussion aspect. But, I don’t think I’m very good at it. I think there were times throughout the semester where I would pick out a few related things throughout the whatever, and I would say ‘okay, here’s your theme’. And then the next day in class if that thing ever came up, without me talking about it, it was usually because somebody else had taken that same general theme but then they took it like four steps further. Which is to say... I’m okay with shallow analysis, but getting to the deep end? Ehhh... 

It is interesting though, because it gives you an extra lens through which to view things. It is both interesting, and distracting, when you’re trying to read a manga and you can’t help but think why did the author choose to portray her like that when previously...? Or whenever you see a big explosion and you’re like ‘?! could it be?’ but then you realize no... no that makes no sense in the context of this anime. 

I also think about the conservative messages that have been delivered to us this semester. Like... a lot. Especially Naruto’s social message, that it’s the outcast who should work to fit in with society. I don’t know if I ever could’ve seen it that way. But, once it’s out there, it makes sense. Maybe even double-y so for Japanese society. I didn’t necessarily agree with the breakdown of Your Name, although I could see what Smith was saying when he showed that second trailer. I don’t know how better to express it than... it’s crazy. I now think about it a lot when viewing Japanese media. For better or worse 

This kind of pinballed around, but whatever. In closing, fun class. May have had a lasting impact on how I consume media, we’ll see. It was fun meeting/listening to everybody. Wish you all the best in the future.

Yoroshiku bye bye

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I thought the choice of characters so young was an interesting one! And I don’t mean to roast Japan, but I thought this was a surprisingly... liberal message for anime (especially considering the otherwise conservative ones that we’ve seen so far). 

4/23/2019

Can’t believe this is already the last post for the class! Ever since hearing about the story during the voting time, this show seemed very interesting. You don’t see/hear much about trans and identity in anime and especially in Japan, so I was pretty excited to watch this! I was really surprised to see it based on middle school students! But I also think thats what makes it great as well. It’s a time when students are trying to be who they really are and I think this can really help people who are trying to true to who they are as well. I think this show has probably made a much bigger impact than I could imagine and I think is a very big step forward. Really excited to hear everyones thoughts on the show in class as well! 

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Wandering Son

This was an incredibly tense scene for me

Full disclosure: I watched the entire season. But I decided to only make notes for the episodes assigned. Then when I finished I decided that I wanted to write my paper on this series and I had intense regrets about my note taking decisions. But, I’ll try to limit my discussion to the four episodes we were supposed to watch!

I actually adore this anime. My paper is looking to be a little negative, and I think depending on how you interpret certain events there are negative things to say. But forget all that. This anime is great. If 君の名は is my number 1 for this class, this is easily my number 2 (not that there was a lot of competition, but oh well). 

女の子ってなんでできてる？男の子ってなんでできてる？Questions that really inform the rest of the series, and difficult ones to answer. What is it that makes somebody a girl? What is it that makes somebody a boy? I used to think a lot about gender (my own, specifically). I eventually came to my own conclusions, but it’s funny to think about how a support network or shows like this might’ve affected me back then. 

When I initially watched this series (in one sitting) I thought about how well it covered some topics. Typing this now, I instead think about how I never really stopped to think that this setting was supposed to be limited to Japan. I listened to the Japanese for certain cues, and of course with things like the school’s culture festival it is undoubtedly Japan. But in a way it feels like some messages from this anime have the ability to resonate with people across the globe (for better or worse). 

One of the things that really stood out to me was how it presented the pressure to conform. It calls to mind the saying 出る杭は打たれる. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Nitori stepped outside of expectations one time, going to school dressed as a girl, and there’s hell to pay for it. Anna dips, bullies pop up, and Nitori is forced back into the schoolboy role. I said it once in class already, but I grew up in a really small, really rural, town. Think Itomori (Your Name), but possibly smaller and certainly more spread out. It’s difficult to force yourself to stand out in that kind of environment. And I don’t mean that in the, “everybody is just so amazing” type of way. My county had two high schools, a standard one and one for dual enrollment (HS+college). I attended the dual enrollment one, and some of my other friends attended the standard one. One of my friends (that I had met in kindergarten) came out as bisexual in 9th grade. Despite the fact that he went to the standard HS, everybody in the DE school knew that he had come out. Then one of my friends from the DE school told me that he was homophobic. Literally, just like that, as if it were something to brag about. He told me that he didn’t want to hang out with my other friend, and that I shouldn’t either. And I’d like to tell you that I told him to fuck off. But I didn’t. And I’d like to say that I couldn’t do that, because of the environment. But I could’ve. I mean, if my friend could come out of the closet in that kind of place, then what is telling one person to get lost? But I took the easy way out. I remained friends with both of them, keeping them out of each other’s way, until I moved to Florida and eventually lost contact with both. 

I have more recent stories that I’d like to share, but if I remember correctly this is supposed to be a blog about anime/manga, and not my personal diary. So, I suppose I’ll save them for a later date. Though I only talked about the issue of conformity I think this anime does a lot of things right. I wish we had had more of this. 

P.S. There’s no picture, but Chi is easily the best character.

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In what sense did it revolutionize what a creator can do? Outside of this class I’ve never watched pre-eva anime, so I wouldn’t know what is and isn’t new about something. 

And I don’t want to be too harsh, you seem to have enjoyed it quite a bit and obviously at least one other person is quite the fan, but personally I do think it’s surprising that this anime was as popular as it was, and that it’s managed to have such sticking power. 

Post 23: Congratulations

Well, they weren’t kidding when they said by the end of Eva they resorted to using markers and crayons to finish the show due to budget and time constraints. 

Jokes aside, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a show I’ve been meaning to watch for a very, very long time, and I’m glad I finally got to get a taste of it. The majority of the final episode resonated with me deeply, as someone who’s struggled with their own sense of self-worth and purpose in life. That final episode, especially how it ends, has been very contentious ever since its release, understandably, but when viewed as a summary of this deeply introspective show, I think it works very well. Knowing that much of this show was meant to be a reflection of the creator’s own struggles and more of a quiet reflection on that than anything else (ironic since its setting subverts this notion at times), it’s definitely won me over. There’s no question why this show is such a landmark in anime history; literally, it revolutionized what a creator could do on a broadcast anime, and it paved the way for other deeply exploratory series such as Revolutionary Girl Utena (created in the immediate wake of this show). Additionally, it’s no surprise why this is one of the most iconic anime of all time, and its influence on pop culture still resonates to this day (I mean, just look at the gif below this).

Or how it’s used as a representative of Japanese consumable pop-culture in the music video for Me Me Me (also animated by Gainax, the video serves as a harsh critique of the dangers of overindulgence in otakudom and self-isolation). Though, this reflects more of an unwanted reality by Eva’s creator: that a lot of people see the series as not much more than any other mecha anime and focus on the action and cute girls (and ironically enough, Gainax is responsible for using Eva as a cash cow).

[Fair warning for those who haven’t seen Me Me Me and are curious, it does have some nudity, so probably best not to watch that in class.]

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Are those daikons on your face or are you just happy to see me?

Okay, aside from my stupid joke, what to say? Obviously a very pretty movie, but that basically goes without saying for a Miyazaki film. Similarly to Naruto, this is one of those things I watched back in elementary/middle school. I could tell that the animation was different but I didn’t know why it was different, I just knew it looked good. This was also before I knew anything about Japan (geography isn’t my strong point).  That being said, I had forgotten almost everything that happens in the movie and so that was fun. On to the part where I make up a bunch of stuff and pretend like I generally know what I’m talking about (spoiler: I don’t). 

I saw a couple of posts talking about greed being one of the main themes, or the one that really stood out to them. And while I definitely can see elements of greed in the film (e.g. parent pigs, gold rush) I feel like that wasn’t the main focus of the movie. 

So what was? Well first I thought this was an (elaborate) metaphor for moving. The movie starts off with moving which might have inspired it, but it’s all about going from old (Japan) to new (spirit world). Then I was like what could the spirit world be? And because I’m American I was like, Oh I got it, it’s America. “How could you possibly come to that conclusion”, you might be asking. Well, avid reader, let me explain. Well first off I thought their clothing was American style, but then I realized that I never actually paid much attention to what middle-aged folk were wearing (outside of suits), and searching “Japanese casual fashion” is showing me a lot of non-casual clothing. So striking that from the record, when you move to a new place you’re (probably?) likely to be influenced by that new culture. Not even 5 minutes after ‘moving’ to the spirit world, what do Chihiro’s parents turn into? Piggies. What country is famous for being hefty? That’s right, it’s ya boy, ‘Murica. Moving on, we see a great variety of spirits represented here. I think this is a more modern thing in today’s world, but who at least (sometimes) calls themselves the mixing pot? That’s right, ‘Murica. At the beginning of the movie they make a big fuss about Chihiro being human, and how much she stinks. If you replace ‘human’ with ‘Japanese’, and ‘stinks’ with ‘speaks funny’ (i.e. has an accent) then you have a kind of scene that might play out at an elementary/middle school (especially in the rural south). 

Chihiro is initially scared of this new/scary environment, but gets used to it. Makes some friends. It doesn’t really get good, but it gets better than it started. The good comes at the end of the movie, when her parents are returned to their normal form, and they decide to go back to the old (Japan). Who is Haku? Well I imagined him to be a Japanese-American and their connection (instead of having met as a river) to be more like they share a common (uncommon) trait. Textual evidence to back up this point is weak, I think I was just making stuff up. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think the metaphor works super well. It initially started as a joke about the parents turning into pigs and then the fat white guy (Daikon Man). I figured I’d throw it out there just ‘cause though.

So what was the standout theme for me? I think it was all about the connection between people. I think I’ll talk about characters individually for this one. First up, predictably, Haku. According to Haku they were friends from before. Because of the bond between them he saves Chihiro from fading away, helps her evade notice, gets her employed (protecting her from being turned into a pig like her parents), and gives her her name. In return, Chihiro saves Haku. When Haku was being messed up by the papers she provided him a place to (crash) land. She then (sort of?) protected him when he was just going to be thrown in the trash. She gave him half of her medicine ball, and squished the bug that was controlling him (or whatever it was doing). She also gives him his name back. 

Then there’s No Face. Looking past the no face thing, he is shunned by society. Which is to say, he has no social ties with anybody. We see that he forms a tenuous connection with Chihiro, but in the absence of that he becomes a monster. I don’t think this is meant to show some stalker-ish level of devotion to Chihiro herself, rather I think it’s meant to illustrate what it is that makes us human (our connection to others). We see that he is initially willing to lie and deceive to get attention (fake? gold) but he craves that real connection (which is why he asks for Chihiro, who initially opened the door for him and asked for nothing in return). Chihiro feeds him some of her medicine and he begins to spit up all the stuff he had eaten. This is a stretch, but we might say that his connection to Chihiro reversed the bad things that he had done. Which is to say, if he had had those bonds in the first place he wouldn’t have committed the bad acts (maybe). We see that No Face is content to be left behind with Zeniba, which shows us that what he really wants is to feel valued by somebody (just as Zeniba values his skill). Chihiro also benefits from this relationship, as she gets the water request things from him. 

The ‘stink spirit’. He was really stinky. This one was less special bonds, and more treating people as if they were people (which I think is still close enough). Everybody else wants to get rid of him, and only grudgingly accept his patronage. Chihiro leads him to the bath, and normally it would have ended there. Neither Yubaba or the guy in charge of the passes expected her to have more water request forms. So it seems like Chihiro goes out of her way to help the stink spirit. Through this human-to-x connection, all the sludge is washed away and it’s revealed that it’s actually a (majestic?) river spirit. Chihiro gets a medicine ball (mentioned previously) for her troubles. 

Baby. Baby was shut in his room all day (because going outside would make him sick). So, essentially, he has no social ties either. We can also see that he’s a bit of a monster. Gonna break Chihiro’s arm and get her killed. We can see that he doesn’t even have a (strong?) connection with Yubaba, because after he’s turned into a rat she doesn’t recognize him at all. During his journey he creates those bonds, with Chihiro, and at the end he’s entirely different. More independent, less whiny, not a terrible person. And he helps Chihiro out. 

As a direct contrast to the lack of connection that Yubaba and baby have, the bond between Chihiro and her parents is seemingly strong. So strong that even after they were transformed into pigs, she could recognize that none of the pigs she was looking at were her parents. 

All in all, we see that through a series of interactions Chihiro’s tendency to treat people respectfully and with kindness affords her the ability to (in the end) rescue her parents. We see a depiction wherein those that are lashing out are not necessarily bad people, but merely lacking in social bonds. What is the significance of names? Perhaps we could say that names are the initial face that we present to the world, and that controlling a person’s name is inevitably an attempt not just to control how they interact with the world, but also with how the world interacts with them. Maybe doubly so in a Japanese context, wherein pronouns are comparatively rare. 

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Wow, we’re like total opposites in that regard. I really disliked the abstract parts of the show. But yeah, there was definitely a lot of talk about love in the end. There was also a lot of talk about sacrifice. I think there could be an interesting conversation about selfishness/selflessness to be had about the series. 

Post 22: This is the Greatest Confusion of All Time

Alright, let’s get one thing straight: I don’t think any of us are going to understand 100% of what was going on here without having watched every single episode, probably multiple times. That being said, I loved this part just as much if not more than the previous bit. Show’s on the more abstract side like this scratch a certain itch for me, and I like a show that can leave me guessing like this. For me, the objective “reality” or narrative is far less important than the message the show is trying to convey. It loves to hope back and forth between layers of reality and abstraction freely. I don’t know there’s just something I love about not being able to quite guess how authentic what I’m seeing truly is. It makes me feel like I’m watching the visual equivalent of a surreal art piece more so than anything else. 

A lot of what I touched on about trying to change fate and the cost to do so was deeply reflected with the transfer of fate, and that felt very satisfying to see resolved. Though, the show definitely was more about love in the end. Mainly, about being loved and chosen by someone else, more so than loving itself. 

Also, I loved how the very end here mirrored the very first episode, but this time the boys walking by the house talking about the apples were Kanba and Shoma. Everything comes full circle.

R.I.P. Sun-chan, you deserved better.

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Penguindrum pt 2

Here we see fate (apple) trapped in a cage (cage)

Obviously the most important part of whichever episode I grabbed this from. How could you not read into the fact that Kan’s penguin was smashing cd/dvd/whatever (and standing on a pile of garbage at the end) while Shou’s penguin in the end is cooking up an egg?! You know what they say... have to break some eggs to make an omelette. In which case you have destruction for the sake of destruction versus destruction for the sake of creation. Similar in a way to arson vs a controlled burn (random example, I know it’s lacking). Am I saying this ironically? 50/50, until someone agrees with me and then I was 100% making a read. Also ゆで卵 are boiled eggs, and that egg is clearly being fried with no previous boiling. Never been so unimmersed in an anime, smh.

Okay, onto real reactions to the anime. Step one in reacting to Penguindrum: What did I just watch? I can’t wait for somebody (Akemi and Prof. Smith) to tell me why what I just watched is actually a masterpiece. My own reaction is most accurately described in step one. For me the episodes (and I suppose the series as a whole) feels too muddled for any real message to be conveyed. I did feel bad because I didn’t really give it the attention it (probably) deserves on Thursday so, despite my relative confusion, there are a few areas I’d like to talk about. . . is what I’d like to say, but I took a nap and forgot everything I had come up. めんどくさい

It’s hard for me to draw any one conclusion because it feels like as soon as you come up with one thing, it’s contradicted by another. My general feeling was that Pinkie was the head of his own cult, and we see Kanba slowly become indoctrinated. It starts back in episode 13, wherein Pinkie offers something that Kan wants, thus ingratiating himself to him. In the episodes we watched today we see that he was reinforcing all of these negative ideas in Kan. People only live by self-serving rules. Everybody is forced into their separate boxes. Everybody is truly alone. The only thing that you can do (to be free?) is destroy everything. Only I can give you what you want (saving Himari). And in the end we see Kan is convinced by all of it. He mindlessly does whatever Pinkie tells him to do. Bombing Ringo and burning her diary? Sure, why not. Bombs on a train? Yeah, I’m feeling it. Even a showdown with his little brother. 

But if Pinkie is a cult leader and Kan is a brainwashed lackey, then who are Momoka/Ringo and what is their magical spell? Perhaps it’s best to consider Momoka and her magic as the ideals that she represents, rather than any general type of person. Momoka (knowingly) sacrifices herself to try and prevent what Pinkie is up to. We also see that her magic spell is all about sacrificing yourself for somebody else. Mentioned because the one way that Pinkie is (temporarily?) thwarted is through means that directly contradict his rhetoric. He claims that people are truly alone, and self-serving. Momoka/Ringo’s magic (or perhaps just the most powerful version of it) only works through self-sacrifice. And you might argue that if people were alone nobody would have the bonds to make people willing to do that. We also see in the start of episode 24 that even though Shou and Kan are in cages, they’re not alone. They still have each other, and Kan saves Shou by offering him half the apple (whatever that means). 

So it seems like cults take advantage of the desperate by offering them something that apparently only the cult can do. And the only way to save them is... I don’t know. Support them? Not my strongest ending. There are also a lot of things I don’t quite understand. What is the child broiler? Maybe an orphanage? Probably not, but it does make me realize that I know nothing about the orphanage system in Japan. The whole talk about love in episode 20 feels like it was probably important, even if I disagreed with it. It was weird because he said there are two sides, running and chasing. If you chase it’ll run, if you run it’ll chase. But then he goes on to say something about both (loves) running, which doesn’t gel with his earlier thing? Is this Pinkie trying to indoctrinate or is the author using him to make a point? In episode 24 when Himari reaches Kan he loses a lot of penguin petals, which turn into apples. I don’t know. 

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I love/hate the rollercoaster at the very end of this movie! They’re pulling off their plan, yay! Oh god it got stopped, no! Oh, Mitsuha’s here to save the day, yay! Comet hits and destroys everything... w a i t what did they make it? Oh they did make it phew. Wait, they still have no memory of each other? Oh they found each other thank g- WHY ARE THEY WALKING PAST EACH OTHER?? Hahah Shinkai was definitely just messing around with people at the very end. 

It’s interesting that this got to you more than the other movies though! I can’t really relate, because I found Barefoot Gen tragic and Grave of the Fireflies still pretty sad. I also cried for this movie too though sooo, maybe I just cry easily. Perhaps it’s the relatability that got to you? Not in the body-switching and time-travelling sense, but the idea of losing somebody important/fighting to protect them. And the tragedy of slowly forgetting them. At least to me that seems more relatable than losing people to radiation sickness/starvation. 

Your Name

           Of course, out of all the bittersweet movies we’ve seen recently, this is the one that made me cry gobs. If The Wind Rises was a master craft in my eyes, Your Name is the masterpiece of anime movies I’ve yet seen. From the animation, to the music, to the story, and the characters, everything about this movie just made me feel something. I don’t think words alone can get across how much I love this movie and its soundtrack (I’ve had it on repeat for like two hours at least). I feel like I really enjoyed the characters more than anything- they felt just as real as Jiro and co. in Wind Rises, but something really set them apart. I’m not sure if it’s the gorgeous animation, the hilarious, yet relatable moments, or the sheer gravity of the situation but… oof. This movie made me feel feels I didn’t expect. I came in knowing nothing about the plot except “anime Freaky Friday” and good lord I can’t explain how heartbroken I was when the bombshell of Mitsuha’s death was dropped. I stopped the movie and just stared in disbelief at the wall in front of me. Of course, later, when Taki-Mitsuha got the chance to try and save everyone, I was overjoyed, brought to near happy tears until the plan started to fall apart. The cliffhanger in the last 15ish minutes really killed me the most, I have to say, but then we see she managed to save everyone anyways, and I burst into the most joyous tears I’ve had in the longest time…

           I apologize for the amount of gushing I did in this post, but hopefully you can grasp my love for this film… In writing this I’ve also thought about how little I felt considering the tremendous tragedies we saw in film last week, and I wonder what made me so emotional over this story in particular. Perhaps it was just how unexpected, yet dire the situation was, or how going into a war story, I mentally brace myself for the horrors within yet let my guard down here. Whatever the case is- I’m glad to finally have seen this masterpiece of a movie, and I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks tomorrow!

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Your Name

How it feels when you decide that catching a limited express at rush hour in Shibuya is a good idea

I was really excited to get to watch this movie for this class. In one of my Japanese classes at Aogaku we listened to an NHK segment on why the movie was so popular. I can’t find the video, but here’s the transcript, if you’re curious. On top of that, for Dr. Wehmeyer’s translation class I translated the first two chapters of the novelization (released a month before the movie). Moreover this is just my type of movie/anime. A romance/comedy/drama WITH A HAPPY ENDING. It’s unfortunate (for me) that we spent so much time on military anime, because frankly I have next to zero interest in them. Also, generally speaking, not a fan of things that are super sad (looking at you, three out of four of the non-military things we watched). Also also, this movie is just so pretty. 

That being said, I think it’s harder for me to analyze a piece when I actually just enjoy watching it. So this gonna be rough, but whatever. How bad could it be? What’s the single most important thing in this movie? The idea of musubi (結び). The whole story revolves around the concept. So what is musubi? Well, according to grandma, it’s a lot of things. Tying a knot, connecting with people, bringing things into yourself, the flow of time itself. They’re brought together, they can twist, tangle, unravel, break, and come back together again. It’s the connection between things (everything?), both in a micro sense and macro sense. Time ties together the past, the present, and the future. And you are tied to people through your relationship to them (daily interactions, old grudges, whatever). It’s the connection between Mitsuha and Taki that tie them together (literally, in the picture above), through time and space. It’s through this connection that Mitsuha and Itomori stand a chance of surviving at all. But of course, Taki/Mitsuha couldn’t do it alone. They also required the help of Tessie and Saya. I think an important aspect here is musubi isn’t just you’re tied to one person and then you can do something incredible. It’s your connection to everybody, and everything. I’ll come back to this in a second.

So what are they saved from? A big ol’ comet. Is this meant to be a stand in for anything? You could argue that the way the comet’s strike is depicted is somewhat reminiscent of the way certain other things have been depicted so far (that silence when it’s about to go boom, the way houses and things are tossed like they’re nothing). But personally I don’t think it’s a stand-in. Or rather, it could be a stand-in for any event that causes a lot of death and destruction. Because the message (to me) isn’t about people reacting to a specific event, like it was in Barefoot Gen or Grave of the Fireflies. Annnnd going back to the previous paragraph,

For me, the movie was about how important our connections are to people in general. This movie chose a comet, but couldn’t it have just as easily been a fire or an earthquake? So it’s not the specific event that matters, but (at least here) it’s about how people come together. Mitsuha got information from the future that put her in a position to be able to save the town. Her connection with Tessie and Saya gave her the tools to do it. Her connection with her dad ensured it. On the other hand, Taki was able to send that information back to the past. He was only able to do that because of a chance encounter with somebody who had lived in Itomori, and because of his connection with Mitsuha. 

In my mind this can be broken down to a more basic message, which is that we are stronger together. I think there’s also a message in the fact that they (Mitsuha and Taki) were able to accomplish this despite being separated by time, and having lived totally different lives. I think it sends a  message of (a hope for?) togetherness that supersedes personal differences (such as where you were born or where you live now). 

Final note on 君の名は. In the last picture above, they’re tied together by a red string. This string also shows up in the scene after he drinks the 口噛み酒. In Japanese there’s an expression, 赤い糸 (akai ito). Literally red string, but it comes from folklore that fated lovers are joined by a red string of fate. And Mitsuha lived in 糸守 (Itomori). 赤い糸、糸守. Well I thought it was interesting.

How could you not immediately think of these guys when you see that scene? I don’t want to write too much about this because I wrote a fair amount for Your Name. I remember some many years ago when I saw the first couple of episodes I thought this anime was really strange (and I stopped there). I can confirm that I still find it strange. Lots of talk about fate (and how people don’t like it). In the hospital there was a line leading to the family, and it was red. Red string of fate? Also apples keep popping up, and then we get a story about a really poppin’ apple tree that died and ended up getting somebody killed. Also, talking about taboos while that ceremony/ritual/whatever is going on... hmmm... Overall this anime feels like it has a lot going on, but it’s just going over my head. Oh well

[krupptonaru-blog]

I mentioned this already in my blog, but I actually felt that this movie felt overly removed from the war. But it’s interesting that you bring up the human quality of all of these films. If we were to put a purpose to these movies, we could (probably) argue that they’re meant to humanize the Japanese. Both to a modern Japanese audience, as well as a foreign one. I hadn’t really considered it before, but if that were the case then they all serve their purpose well. 

The Wind Rises

           What a movie! I had been meaning to watch The Wind Rises for quite some time now, and I can happily say that it exceeded my expectations. I honestly can’t find anything I didn’t like about this movie, from the introspective look at aircraft engineering, to the time period, the adorable love story, and the absolutely gorgeous animation. I seriously don’t think I’ve replayed scenes from any other movie to look at all the tiny little details quite as much as I did here. There are so many little touches that make this, and all other Miyazaki works, absolute marvels of animation. I love it! I love it! I love it!

           Of course, the ending was a tad bittersweet, as I was warned it would be, and my girlfriend did cry at the end, but overall, I was content. It felt like a fitting ending, especially as we see the Mitsubishi plant’s destruction and Jiro’s resolve to keep moving forward, despite what his plane ended up becoming. A friend of mine whom I watched the film with was shocked to discover what the story was about when I told him early on, and he was convinced that he should view Jiro in a negative sense (being the designer of the Zero fighter, which went on to kill Americans in WW2 yada yada), but by the end of the film he was choking back tears with the rest of us.

           I think it really speaks to the merit of these past few films that they can be framed by World War 2, but so departed from it at the same time. Sure, Gen and Fireflies dealt with immediate consequences of the war, and this was mainly a prelude to the conflict, the films all possess an undeniable human quality. These are less war films and more so human stories that happened to take place during these times. Of course the anti-war themes are still largely present in Wind Rises, but they don’t take center stage, and certainly leave Miyazaki’s wonderful storytelling plenty of room to grow.

           Also, Hideaki Anno lent his voice for the role of Jiro, and man was it a powerful performance. The ghost of Evangelion ended up creeping into this class after all…

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I wish I had been this passionate about something when I was young.

rip my heart

This is another one that I’ve heard about, but never actually watched. It’s got that charming sort of whimsical feel that I would expect from a Miyazaki film (even if it’s more grounded in reality). I think this class is starting to get to me, because I was honestly expecting way worse. In my notes, after the scene with all the devastation of the earthquake, I wrote that it would probably be mirrored later in the movie (but the cause would be humans/his planes). Imagine my legitimate surprise when not only was it not mirrored, but there was actually almost nothing about the actual war effort. Despite mentions of Japan’s economy, we don’t really see the negative effects later in the movie. Besides the budget/material constraints on the planes, but that’s a faaar cry from The Grave of Fireflies. And yet, the movie still managed to have a sad ending. So, I guess there’s that. 

Part of the reason that I bring it up is because (beyond just the time that it’s set in) it feels like the movie is setting you up to see some kind of result. On the one hand you have an idealistic creator, who just wants to make something beautiful. But in his dream world they kind of drive home the message that it comes with a cost. Planes shouldn’t be used for war. But, if you had a choice would you live in a world without the pyramids? That is to say, people made sacrifices for that beauty (pyramid) (no comment on willingness). Would you choose to live in a world that was devoid of that beauty, so that people didn’t have to make that sacrifice? Or something like that. It’s also made clear that he and everybody else knows exactly what kind of planes they’re building. He interacts with the navy a couple of times, I believe. It’s also pointed out that he’s receiving a good amount of money for it. Annnnd whenever there’s a bomber somebody asks what it’s going to bomb and the answer is basically everything. To me at least, it feels like the movie is setting you up to see something visceral. But it never comes. And no, I don’t really count that last scene. There are a lot of crashed planes and he says none of them ever came back, but that’s basically nothing. It’s like the movie takes place in a different world. And, despite how we’re hearing all of these warnings about planes as weapons, what Japan is doing, etc. we never actually see it. And, as has been pointed out before in this class, we’re all about that visual representation. So just as we should pay attention to what is portrayed, we also have to ask what isn’t. Overall I feel like the movie kind of sends a somewhat conflicted message. But, maybe that’s just me.

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To be fair, at one point he asks if he can pay with money for rice, and he’s told that they don’t have any. And later, during the doctor visit, when he’s told that all she needs is food, he asks where is he supposed to get food. It seemed to me less like he was trying to selfishly hang on to the money, and more like he didn’t know where he could spend it. On the other hand, I don’t have a good excuse for why he didn’t go and tell the aunt whatever she wanted to hear. 

That got dark. I mean… where to start? I watched Barefoot Gen first, so I guess I might as well just dive right in.

I knew these were sad (thanks for the heads up!), but other than the family being hungry, it started off pretty happy. I guess that’s where they really get you. I hate that Gen’s family knew the war was almost over. They were so close to making it out, and they were even at a safe enough distance to escape a lethal amount of radiation. I mean, Gen’s family died from fire and starvation.

The deaths in Grave of the Fireflies were caused by such similar things, even if the circumstances were different. Another thing I hate: in both movies they were just a day too late with the food. Although, in Grave of the Fireflies, I still don’t understand why the brother didn’t withdraw money to buy food earlier, or even go back to his aunt and beg (it would’ve been better to lose his pride than his sister’s life). It was also pretty depressing to see how he didn’t even realize the war was over, since they were still starving and all.

Well then, I think I need to go pet a puppy.

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Barefoot Gen/Grave of the Fireflies

Ughhh what a difficult movie to watch. I kind of knew what was coming, but it was so unfair that they spent 30 minutes building up the characters, for it to turn out the way that it did. Usually I prefer to try and do a close analysis of the material, but I think I might’ve been too caught up in it to really do that this time around. I can’t really point to any specific themes besides the most obvious ones. So, I’ll talk a bit about the things that stood out to me, and those (obvious?) themes. (also I’ll try structuring it into paragraphs, so it’s not a straight wall of text like it tends to be)

The response to the air raid (Oh it’s early), feels really casual. I feel like it almost glanced over the firebombing of Tokyo. Like it talks about how it was really vicious, but then it just moves on. According to wikipedia 100,000 people were killed in the raid, and more than a million were left homeless. I get that it didn’t kill quite as many people, and that it doesn’t leave behind radiation poisoning, but still. 

Another thing that stood out to me was that there was a relatively neutral stance. They didn’t try to absolve the Americans of anything (atomic bomb is pretty bad, and there was also that scene where they gunned down a little girl). But they also threw some blame to the Japanese government. First, there was the character of the father (openly against war/continuing it). Then (roughly 57 minutes in) they bring up that America demanded Japan’s surrender after the first nuclear bomb. It’s then stated that the Japanese essentially ignored this demand, and they also covered up what happened in Hiroshima. In this, we can see that this movie isn’t just meant to be “America bad” (or perhaps this is my bias as an American speaking). So, like I said, I think there’s neutrality in that both governments are to blame.

Of course, perhaps it’s stretching to think that it was assigning blame to Japan’s government. But, if we assume that it was, then I think we can see themes similar to what we saw in previous works. In my previous post, regarding Phoenix, I hypothesized (that feels a little formal for what I actually did, but let’s pretend) that when characters were saying “It’s the samurai who start wars”, what they were actually saying was “It’s the people in power that start wars”. Take that, and combine it with the fact that (or the fact that I think that) much of the suffering was done by the common person, and then you have a message that essentially says “People in power start wars, and the common people suffer (for it)”. I believe an echo of that message is also heard in this work. Early on in the movie (~24 minutes) Gen asks why they continue fighting, and Gen’s father says it’s because their leaders are wrong and the people in the army are the same. Continuing on to the scene at 57 minutes (leaders ignore demand/Hiroshima cover-up), which then leads to the bombing of Nagasaki. In Phoenix it’s Kiyomori/Yoshitsune/samurai that are in power, in Barefoot Gen it’s the Japanese government/army, and in both it’s the commoners who are killed/lose their home/war orphans/etc.

Another thing that stood out to me was the line in the last picture above. This is, again, in the scene around 24-25 minutes. Gen’s father declares that this kind of war can’t be right. But then he also says that protecting everybody’s life is right. I feel like we’ve also seen this theme in earlier works that we watched. Starting with the earlier one, I think that we see a similar theme in Zipang. One of the bigger things that I focused on in Zipang was the idea that “Exclusive defense is the guiding light”. If I’m not mistaken, something to that effect was explicitly stated. We also don’t see the Zipang take anybody until they’re attacked. Then in GATE, they’re initially attacked, then move through the gate to try and set up negotiations (or something?). The more important thing is we see the main character’s going out of their way to try and protect people who are technically “the enemy”. I feel like the common tie between all of this is a new(?) idea that the most important thing is defending/protecting people (emphasis on defense, as opposed to offense). Though Zipang focuses more on the fighting aspect (defending), I think GATE is pretty close in message (protecting). Fighting isn’t prevalent in Barefoot Gen, but they did do things to try to protect people (e.g. working with the maggot guy, then also cheering him on). 

Finally, throughout the movie, we see a very optimistic view of both people, and the resilience of the human spirit. Ironically I feel like this one optimistic view is the one that isn’t really shared with previous things that we’ve read. But it did feel like it was one of the movie’s main goals. There’s the rich guy(?) who caught them stealing a koi fish, let them have it, and rewarded them for it. There’s the neighbor who initially gave them his rice, and then also helped to carry Gen’s mother away from the flames. There’s the mother who just lost her baby, who then feeds Tomoko. Then they also ‘adopt’ Ryuta (arguably the weakest example, but we’re keeping it). In all of this, we see an incredible streak of selflessness, of people banding together in a time of pain/confusion/need. Gen survives his sickness. And then we have the final scene where they ‘send off’ Shinji. To me it all speaks to an incredible strength in the human spirit to be able to endure so much and still be able to help others, and then to move past that pain and look to the future. 

In the section about Barefoot Gen I mentioned that they kind of glanced over the Tokyo firebombing. I think Americans tend to learn about/focus on the atomic bombs. It makes sense. Massive weapons of destruction and all. But the firebombings were devastating as well. 

What can I say about the actual movie? Well the aunt’s a dick. What else can I say? That’s a bit more difficult. 

First, I’ll say that I think the overall, prevailing, theme of Barefoot Gen was a very optimistic one. I think the prevailing theme of Grave of the Fireflies is like... the exact opposite. Bad circumstances bring out the worst in people. First we have the aunt. Exchanges the dead mom’s kimono for rice, and then refuses to give them their rice. She even has the nerve to get offended about it. Then there’s the farmer that Seita steals from. He beats the heck out of Seita, and even after seeing that Seita really does have a little sister to take care of, he still tries to get him arrested. I get that you wouldn’t want somebody stealing yourself, but leaving a girl that young to her own devices would be condemning her to death. There’s also Seita himself. He turns to stealing because he doesn’t want to go back to the aunt and apologize. He’s not innocent by any means. Where Gen seemed to feel optimistic about the future, Seita was unable to let go of the past (and he died for it). I thought one of the ending notes (when the girls in dresses came back to the house) was very odd. Perhaps because I’m already viewing it in a negative light, it feels like it’s rubbing salt into the wound. On one side a little girl dies, and on the other you have adults (?) blithely returning home. Makes you want to call it unfair.

Another theme that I think I saw was a loss of innocence. I don’t think we are told explicit ages, but they’re both children. Seita has to bear the burden of taking care of his super young sister. He’s constantly berated by his aunt about how he isn’t doing enough. With the death of his mom, and the absence of his father, this young teenager is put into the position of a parent way too early. But, when I say loss of innocence, I’m more thinking of Setsuko’s. I mean, she’s so young. She really should be innocent, and she shouldn’t have to worry about anything. We see early on when she runs into a dead body (on the beach) that she just thinks that he’s sleeping. We wouldn’t expect somebody her age to really understand death, so that’s fine. But then later on (57 min mark) she is burying fireflies and she talks about how their mom is also in a grave. The scene is also interesting because her burying the fireflies is contrasted with others burying bodies. Then she asks why the fireflies have to die so soon. It might be a stretch, but it seems like her understanding of death has changed to me. Also of note, in the same scene Seita cries. I only bring it up because when I see it, it makes me think that he hasn’t had time where he could sit and grieve. But that’s just my thoughts on it. 

Finally, I think we have to ask why they chose to frame the story as a spirit’s memories. We have a very grim opening, where Seita dies of a broken heart (okay, more likely from starvation). Then (very end of movie) he goes with Setsuko and says it’s time to sleep, as they sit overlooking a modern Japanese city. Why? I’unno. Maybe that’s for you to decide.

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I think one could argue that Benkei showed a certain type of loyalty. He did stick around Yoshitsune for a good while before finally betraying him. What I got from it was less that Benkei wasn’t a loyal person, and more that everybody has a breaking point. Benkei did set fire to those innocent people’s homes, for example, despite it being against his principles. And, when you think about it, it does make a certain amount of sense that Yoshitsune is portrayed not super nicely. The portion that we read today didn’t cover his military tactics but, if I’m not misremembering, he would push his army hard in order to surprise the enemy (i.e. use forced marches). And it is war, so we wouldn’t expect him to be a super merciful person. 

I liked some of the subplots, and disliked some of the others. I thought volume 8 in particular was very anti-war, and so seeing gourd-head kill his dad just fell in line with that. That scene stood out to me, because for me it was super surprising. I think it helps to highlight the kind of mindset of gourd-head, if nothing else. 

Our last session with Phoenix! I was excited when I realized it was about the whole Yoshitsune chunk of history/myth. This is a section of history/myth I find interesting and Tezuka’s take was fantastic. Changing Benkei into an idiot who hates monks was unexpected, although I did see him hating Yoshitsune coming. Benkei is known for his great loyalty so it makes sense that Tezuka would flip that around. Similarly, Yoshitsune is the model for the Japanese tragic hero so it was somewhat predictable that he would be… not so sympathetic.

There were many little subplots within these volumes, but I wasn’t a huge fan of most of them. They dragged the story out quite a lot and made some parts kind of painful to get through. I mean, there were so many examples of how war tore families apart. Did the bit where Gourd-Head killed his dad really add much? Maybe others got more out of it, because it really didn’t do anything for me.

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Old school catfishing, respect.

First section was written without the context of the second volume, if that changes anything. 

Okay, so that’s a lot of pictures. I thought the portrayal of the Japanese samurai was interesting, because it seems most popular media prefers to romanticize them instead. And then you never (or I never) hear about these warrior monks in popular fiction, so who would’ve guessed there’s this sort of power struggle between the two? I thought the depictions of Benkei and Yoshitsune were pretty interesting. I also thought the way that he tied the myth to the character was interesting. Instead of just alluding to it (like the in the first volume), he instead has a character who uses Benta (and presumably later, Yoshitsune) as inspiration for what sounds like basically historical fiction. I mean we already know the Gikeiki took a bit of inspiration (999 swords?) but interesting nonetheless. My reaction to pic. 4: “That’s grosssss”. And honestly, the fact that she refused to go with him was my least favorite ‘plot twist’ of the entire. It’s SO FRUSTRATING. Why would she not go with him? This is so Stockholm Syndrome stuff in here. And this isn’t the first time I’m complaining about Stockholm Syndrome in this series, I also wasn’t a fan of Em Dee and the sister (I feel bad for forgetting her name, but not bad enough to find it). I actually don’t get it. She trained for three months, and was in his service for ? amount of time, and that’s enough to earn this amount of loyalty from her? I don’t buy it. Also they were sweethearts from childhood (apparently), and yet she’d rather stick around with the lord? Also, yeah he’s troubled but he’s definitely not a good person. Which leads me to my final thought for volume 7. What kind of character is Kiyomori supposed to be? Personally, I really dislike him. I think he suuuuucks. But you do have to wonder about his motives. He doesn’t want to die, which is fair. In the first volume we saw people that wanted immortality just for themselves, people who wanted immortality for somebody else, and people who didn’t want immortality. In this we see somebody who wants the immortality for himself but, according to him, for the good of other people. He does want immortality to maintain the power that he’s accrued over 30 years, but it seems like he is doing his best to elevate his clan. It’s funny because this feels both selfish and selfless. He’s working to elevate a lot of people, but the family is sort of an extension of self (debatable, but there’s a definite selfishness in keeping it in the family). So are his motives good? Bad? I don’t know, but he still sucks. (Also that dog and monkey metaphor? Crazy)

Same gourd head, retweet x10

Not quite in order that they’re posted but... lowkey glad that it ended the way it did for Obu. Also doesn’t it seem a little sad for Hinoe? She was totally forgotten about. Not just when he saw Obu, but apparently for a good long time afterwards as well. And he only remembered when somebody reminded him. Benta made some... interesting choices? I feel like the main question here is why did he stick around with Yoshitsune if he were that opposed? Other than that the story requires it. There were at least a few times where he fell behind and nobody was looking for him. It seemed like he ditched Yoshitsune after they got their costumes. He was definitely capable of dealing whoever came for him. But maybe that was just me. Moving on, the previous volumes involved themes of greed and the human desire for power, and this volume certainly had that as well. But I feel like there was a strong anti-war sentiment accompanying it. We’ve seen a few times somebody claiming that the people who start wars are samurai. I believe Hinoe says it right before the scene pictured. This is despite Benta technically being a samurai. So really what (it seems) is being said here is that those in power (e.g. Yoshitsune) are the ones who start war. And from there we saw many times that despite it being somebody in power who started it, it’s the common person who ends up suffering for it (e.g. war orphans, burning innocent people’s homes, killing innocent people). The reason to make a distinction between samurai with power and samurai like Benta (who only have power so long as they don’t try to do anything that somebody disapproves of) is because we also see the warriors suffering too (e.g. when Benta’s squad is blown off the cliff and left to drown). It was also interesting to note that a few times when Benta was hesitant to do some horrible thing or the other one of his subordinates (like in the picture) would say “but that’s your job (as a samurai)”. I also thought the peer aspect of the particular scene was interesting. I’m not quite sure what to make of it though. Leaving behind unfinished theme analysis, there were two times where I thought that the manga had finished, but it just kept on trucking. The dog and monkey metaphor was... really weird. Like if it had just been “you two are enemies and are cursed to always be enemies, because you both lust for power” I woulda been like, alright cool. But instead I was left with more questions. The phoenix claims that they always start out as friends and become enemies. But when were Kiyomori and Yoshitsune ever friends? Doesn’t Yoshitsune like explicitly say he’s been waiting his whole life to kill the Taira? Whatever! Play at the very end was very interesting to ‘watch’. I’d say there was a similar theme to the rest of the volume (war and greed). Also she mentions time paradoxes. But the phoenix mentions that “there is no time, at least not as humans know it”. I would assume this to mean time is a nonlinear concept. Presumably the phoenix wouldn’t need to worry about any time paradoxes because they already happened/are happening.Or if she did have to worry about them she’d already know what caused them, and could avoid them? Time’s weird 

This is too long, whoops. 

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Personally I thought her aversion to Saruta was perfectly natural. I mean she just didn’t really have any particular reason to jump into his arms, and he expected her to just be down to go after he hid his feelings for like 35(?) years. I would argue that her choosing to stay with Makimura is the opposite of shallow, it seems more like true love to me. Marriage (and one would hope, love) are supposed to survive through thick and thin. In a way, Makimura’s condition and Nana’s choice to stick by him reminds me of somebody taking care of their SO even after they’ve developed something like Alzheimer’s, dementia, or are paralyzed (or any other condition that destroys a life). We wouldn’t say a husband taking care of his wife even though she no longer recognizes him is shallow. And if he jumped ship immediately to the first healthy alternative to pop up, might we not call that shallow? 

March 25, 2019

This week’s reading of Phoenix, particularly the concept surrounding a man being cursed into turning continuously younger into infancy reminds me of the film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I wonder what folklore or the like it may be influenced by. At any rate, this one was certainly emotionally compelling. For one thing, it was relieving that the characters were able to make it back onto a planet with oxygen and be mobile. Even if the circumstances we not ideal, the idea of being in a pod is suffocating to think about. 

The love triangle dynamic is also enticing. I personally did not appreciate Nana’s aversion of Saruto’s love confession as it seems bizarre or blind to me that someone would choose to be with one subject to Makimura’s curses as opposed to another who could sustain a life with her in the place they belong. Moreover, it seems shallow and I don’t if that was something the story was trying to get at but just my thoughts. 

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Phoenix pt 2

I mean it’s volume 3, but whatever. 

I love it. Definitely not what I was expecting.

Coincidentally, I had to write an essay this previous Saturday for Felt’s samurai class, comparing two of the warriors that we’ve covered up to this point. One of the warriors that I chose to cover was the Kojiki Yamato Takeru. The other was a woman named Tomoe Gozen. Tomoe Gozen doesn’t have a lot of battle scenes, but the main one is where she takes on a challenge from an enemy warrior. They’re basically trying to grapple each other when the guy pulls his sword on her. She calls him out for it, strikes his elbow hard enough to make him drop it, and then kills him. Obviously I’m a bit biased, since I just wrote an essay on these two characters, but I could swear that’s the scene we’re looking at... Anyway, I also thought the portrayal of Yamato Takeru was so odd. In the Kojiki he’s like the opposite of honorable. Ambushes, disguises, deception, etc. Yamato Takeru is all about those dirty tricks. If we were to try and give him one good attribute (other than just good at killing) it would probably be that he’s loyal. Follows his dads order to take out rebels, then follows the order and tries to clear the east of barbarians and deities. Contrast these things with Tezuka’s Phoenix and we have... basically the opposite? Yamato Takeru is shown as being much more sensitive/sophisticated. And though he keeps the first order, he eventually betrays his dad. Also just in general the story is so different. I mean I know Tezuka isn’t just going to rip of the Kojiki, but it seems so different. I imagine there’s a reason for it, but it does make me scratch my head. Small notes - I really disliked the beginning of this story. I felt like the king’s representation and all the references/jokes were too much, and I was dreading having to finish it. After a while it calmed down though, and I enjoyed it. Some of the plot was a bit... odd. Why wouldn’t you just kill a 10/10 definite assassin that’s come to kill you? Especially when that person’s only connection to you is that they’re the enemy. And then, the last minute change in plan for Takeru and crew was like... dumb. Takeru: “I have to get this bird so all the live sacrifices will be able to survive instead!” Also Takeru: “Hey guys what if, and hear me out on this one, instead of climbing out of our graves we just did karaoke until we die?” I mean I get that it was supposed to go with the whole fulfilling death theme thing, but ehh...

SHE ALREADY ANSWERED!

I really enjoyed the space story (more so the beginning parts of it than the end). The creepy space murder mystery type of story is a super interesting one to me. I was wondering to myself while reading it, it seems to be pretty common knowledge that there’s something fucky going on with this guy’s age. So why wouldn’t they have him stay awake (that way there are always 2 people awake for a cycle)? I guess if you’ve already tested to make sure people won’t go insane then it doesn’t matter that much... but since his age becomes a problem it makes more sense. Now to talk about the part I didn’t like so much... the love stuff. So annoying. I mean I don’t have much more to add here, I just didn’t like it. It’s bad enough to have a love triangle, but then you add in this sucker who’s just been crushing in the background this whole time? Meh.