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04.28.2018

on Myself (woah)

I came out of this class with a lot more non-anime related knowledge than I expected. That definitely allowed me to understand what the readings were trying to portray though. Historical context really adds a whole knew level of understanding when looking at any text and I appreciate having better grasp on anime, manga, and Japanese history. I was never the type to really analyze media for themes unless they’re extremely obvious so it was interesting trying to pick out subtle things myself. 

I also liked getting to see and hear different perspectives on readings I already knew, and to get exposure to content that I never would’ve thought to look at on my own. From here on out, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to watch an anime without at least briefly wondering what kind of commentary it may be making on society, or war.

[ngarc]

I think it’s interesting that you bring up the possible anti-technology commentary. I would say it was if it weren’t for the fact that the system was revealed to be a collection of human minds, so now I’m left unsure. Also, regarding the scene where no one does anything about the girl being assaulted, there are cases about that happening in real life. It’s called the bystander effect and it’s the unfortunate phenomenon in which people in a crowd are less likely to do anything about the situation because they think that someone else will do something.

4/25

I’ve heard a lot about Psycho Pass, but never actually saw it until now and it sure was wild. The concept of having their minds constantly monitored didn’t seem as constricting as I thought since they seemed to still be able to do a lot and express many emotions. The intense control of firearms has got be a direct reference to guns in Japan since even police there can’t use them unless they’re actively on duty. The way the gun decided whether or not to kill someone was really strange, and made me think about the debate on when police should be able to use lethal force. The way how the system is just a group of people who’ve put their consciousnesses into a machine and are ruling the world like gods was really creepy. I wonder if there are any anti-technology themes in this text due to how it has really dominated this society and made it into a real dystopia. I also liked how the anti-hero character Shogo turns out to be right about the system being corrupt and how they should fight it rather than submit.

As for other themes, the art was good, but didn’t really have any scenes to show it off as pretty or anything. The show was definitely a lot darker than I had anticipated. The girl getting beaten to death and having her clothes torn off while everyone just filmed it on their phones was beyond disturbing. Bystanders have been known to intervene in all kinds of incidents, so I can’t imagine them being able to just watch that happen, unless the text is trying to say people have lost their humanity due to the strict laws. There’s been a lot of debate over government surveillance and if we should value security over privacy or vice versa, so I can see how that debate could also come from this text.

[ngarc]

04.24.2018

on psycho-pass

Overall, I liked psycho-pass. I found this more modern take on what the future could possibly look like to be very interesting. I also appreciated that in the first episode, one of the main characters is already able to point out one of the flaws in how their society is run. That is- in how their weapons are quick to judge a person even if they can change. This show seems to be focusing on mental health and the justice system. I’m not sure about the Japanese justice system but I know that the American one could definitely use some work. 

One controversial issue being how to rehabilitate criminals so that they can come back into society and how they can contribute. The Sybil System in the show just judges on it’s own when someone is irredeemable and I think that would be a very difficult thing to pass judgement on, even as an unbiased computer system. I also really liked the villian in this show, I found it really interesting that he turned down the offer to become a part of the system as well.

[ngarc]

I also picked up on a lot of the little details you did so I’m glad you mentioned them! For example, I thought the dialect was cute, especially in the way that they would say “see you tomorrow”. I also picked up on the way that anyone with malicious intention would have red eyes, because Satoru also had red eyes in one episode (possibly one that wasn’t assigned though..). Lastly, I also wondered how he survived! You bring up a good point about the teacher not trying hard enough to draw suspicion away from himself too. He said he was going to leave the town the following day as well so I feel that draws even more suspicion towards him. 

4/23

This was my first time watching this show, and it was really awesome. I’m a little upset I wasn’t able to watch it in order and experience the whole show normally, but it was still very intense and thrilling. I’m definitely going to go back and watch all 12 episodes. I had no idea the teacher was the killer up until where it showed him holding a lollipop, and then I figured it out. Still very shocking and a great plot twist to think such a nice man who seemed to care a lot for the kids was behind everything. Though, I’m quite a bit curious as to how Satoru managed to survive falling in the ice, however. It was also a very strange way to kill him, too, since a child found dead strapped in the passenger seat with no driver would make it very obvious he was murdered. You’d think the teacher would try to make it look like an accident or something to avoid a homicide investigation.

As for non story material, the art was fantastic, except for the CG scenes. I don’t know if anime needs CG to do that type of 1st person forward movement, but regardless, I find it always distracting and then ends up taking me out of the show. The voice acting was definitely the highlight of the show, with Satoru having such an epic and stunning deep voice that really drove the action and made the explanations very interesting and raised the suspense. It was very similar to how Light drove the story of Death Note. The way the teacher’s eyes turned red after he revealed his true self was very creepy and also very fitting to show his inner darkness and evil intent. I also found the Hokkaido dialect in the show interesting and helped make it feel unique since most anime is only standard Tokyo Japanese. 

[ngarc]

04.22.2018

on erased

So I ended up watching the entirety of the show over the course of the last three days and it was soooooooo good. For that reason, my post might not focus very much on the exact episodes that were picked... For starters, this show was super dark and sad. I came into it knowing that it had something to do with children and kidnapping and murder, but there was also child abuse and more murder than I expected. I really liked the reoccurring theme of others believing in you without you asking them to. 

I figured it was the teacher from really early on but then my suspicion made me think it would be too easy for it to be him so I wasn’t really sure until the episode before it was revealed. One thing that stood out at first was how attentive and mature one of the Satoru’s friends was, to the point that it made me think that maybe he was also sent back from the future. Also, during the beginning half of the series I wondered why Satoru only worried about the girl and not the boy that had always been in his friend group so I was relieved that after he saved the girl he started to watch over the other children as well.

Favorite character of the series award goes to Satoru’s mom, she’s the real MVP. I was really happy with the ending, since everyone lived. I agreed with Satoru’s sentiment when he said he didn’t mind losing the 15 years of his life since it meant a bunch of his friend’s living for a lot longer. I also just really liked the scene on the roof when Satoru was almost going to roll off and the killer decides to kill himself with him.

[ngarc]

I was also very intrigued by how the children’s roles kind of flipped half way through the movie to the unexpected. Also, I can take comfort in your statement that Hana wanted them to live their lives as they wished.

Wolf Children is one of those movies that I have very fond memories of. I’ve seen it around 5 times already, and every time I watch it I feel like my interpretation of its message changes ever so slightly. It’s mainly a story about parenthood and coming of age and facing one’s roles in society. The years of growing up and trying to figure out all these things seems so difficult, but at the same time this movie presents them in a soft, mainly lighthearted manner that I adore. Hana is a character I especially admire for keeping optimistic and working as hard as possible for her children. We see a lot of optimistic, ganbaru-ing adolescents in anime, but very few adults. Seeing Hana struggle and learn along the way but still keep a smile on her face made me feel optimistic about my own future.

The way that Yuki and Ame’s “roles” seem to switch has always been what confused, and intrigued, me the most. Yuki’s the more headstrong, wild one but she thrives more in school and human settings while Ame is timid and quiet but thrives out in the forests as a wolf. I think this shows that one’s future is not always clear-cut, and where one belongs might change over time. When I first watched it, I remember being slightly upset that Yuki was “chained” by society, while Ame “abandoned” his humanity in favor on being on his own. I guess I wanted the more clear-cut endings that they seemed to have. I was also upset that they left Hana all alone when they grew older. But, I realize now that this is what Hana wanted in the first place. She wanted them to be able to chase after the futures they wanted and she did her best to give them the environment growing up to do so. She never tries to pigeonhole her children, letting Ame come with her to work instead of to school where he obviously doesn’t feel comfortable, and still encouraging Yuki to go to school since that’s where she seems happiest. I can’t help but feel that being a good parent is one of the hardest things to do.

[ngarc]

04.19.2018

on wolf children: ame and yuki

This is another one of my favorite Japanese animated films, so I’m really happy that it got picked. The ending always leaves me feeling very bittersweet, since although nothing absolutely terrible happened (besides the father’s death in the beginning), both the children end up leaving the mother behind. Hana can probably write to or call Yuki, and Ame is likely always watching over her, but they’ve both grown up and moved onto their own things. It’s so interesting how the two children grow up to be the opposite of what you would expect in the beginning of the movie. Yuki was the more wild of the two as a child but ends up going the human route to live a normal school life. Ame was the more timid of the two so I thought he would reject his wolf side but it’s easy to see why he would take comfort in the solitude of that lifestyle.

I really appreciated how hard the mother worked to raise them on her own. She didn’t know what to expect when falling in love with the wolf dad and then she had to figure everything out by herself, but she did so well :,) . I feel like that could be some small commentary of it’s own on the stereotypical Japanese family, and how the fathers are always working so it really is up to the mothers to raise the children on their own. Otherwise, I think the movie is a good coming-of-age story on how kids will choose their own paths and be their own people despite growing up in similar circumstances. Though it could also be commentary on conformity and modernity in Yuki’s case, or respect for nature (or tradition) in Ame’s case. Maybe both, who knows. 

[ngarc]

I also thought that the concept of musubi was what stood out the most in the movie and I appreciated that it give a deeper sense of meaning to a connection than just the red string of fate did. I really liked that Mitsuha and Taki stayed connected even after the past was changed and in a way that neither of them understood nor would they ever come to understand. I thought their interactions were super cute, and it was really creative of them to keep logs of their days in each other’s bodies.

I absolutely adore this movie. The pacing, animation, and characters are all so well-done and truly immerse me in its story. I will be presenting on this movie tomorrow so I will keep my thoughts short, but on the whole I think one of the most interesting ideas it gives is what they called “musubi”- how everything is interweaved into one another, constantly twisting and turning and yet all still the same, just like the braided cords. 

The way they show “musubi” is not only through the braids, and not just through the time-travel either. How Taki and Mitsuha switch bodies, one of the main aspects of the movie, is also “musubi.” They come two different times and places and yet still come together to switch, and I admit it does seem a bit awkward physically but it’s still interesting how these two completely different people with different lives are still shown to be able to coexist and interact with each other. It’s a little hard to put into words, but I find this coexistence of contrasting elements both fascinating and incredibly poetic.

[ngarc]

04.17.2018

on your name

I thought I would only tear up this time since it was my third time watching it, but I cried at the end, though not as badly as I’d sobbed the first time I saw it. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, the plot is so interesting, and the plot twist is so unexpected that it really feels like a punch in the gut (but a good kind). Not to mention the beautiful soundtrack, which I’m listening to again as I write this, shoutout to RADWIMPS. The ending ALWAYS gets to me, 1) because everyone in the town lived, and 2) because they keep passing by each other and it really makes you fear that neither of them will remember or try to reconnect but then they do!! 

It was interesting how the movie was set up, switching between the two characters perspectives multiple times. The biggest theme was connection, or musubi, which we see throughout the movie, like with the hair tie and the kuchikamizake. Even before musubi was mentioned, the hair tie had immediately made me think of the red string of fate belief. Tradition was also pretty heavily emphasized throughout, since Mitsuha was a shrine maiden and her father was looked down on by the grandmother for leaving the religion. It also made me think of Zipang a little, becuase Taki went back in time and chose to change history and save a hundreds of people rather than preserve the future that he came from.

All in all, really good movie!!!!!

[ngarc]

I agree that race and one’s treatment because of it was a big theme in this anime. First we saw it towards Lafiel, and after towards Jinto. That might’ve also been to make the characters more relatable to eachother so that they would need up together. I also like the commentary you suggested about how Lafiel acts like a true leader.

These episodes of Crest of the Stars continues off with Lafiel and Jinto traveling through space amidst a war between the Four Nations Alliance and the Abh Empire. When they were detained by the Baron, I thought it was interesting how they showed him to be slightly paranoid and controlling and following customs that are looked down upon by Abh, even though he is supposed to be an Abh himself. The way he treats his vassals like pets and expects them to be subservient no matter what are unseemly to Lafiel, a true Abh. This makes me think that this is a commentary on how true leaders should be. This can also be seen reflected during the finale when the Inspector doesn’t respect the man trying to get his revenge on the Abh, and this man is shown as being paranoid and slightly insane as well. Usually leaders of empires are shown to be complete dictators, but the “true” Abh like Lafiel look down upon those who have no concern for others and are only interested in their own selfish goals.

The theme of one’s title determining how they’re treated continues, which can especially be seen when Lafiel is being treated by the Baron’s maids. She insists that she can do everything herself and is annoyed whenever they grovel at her feet or try to make her do more “proper” things, like put on a formal outfit for dinner. However, it’s interesting that Jinto is treated much differently even though he also has a prestigious title just because he isn’t an Abh. Because the way he’s treated by the Baron is not the same as all the other times the Abh have been courteous to him, it’s obvious that treating someone differently due to their race is looked down upon.

The finale of the anime confused me quite a bit since I had no idea who any of the characters were aside from the main protagonists and that one maid who helped Lafiel rescue Jinto from the Baron. There were also quite a few other plot-related questions I had, like why Lafiel dyed her hair black and why they’re in trouble with the human Alliance in the first place. However, I did think it was nice that everyone got their happy ending. 

[ngarc]

04.15.2018

on crest of the stars ep 6,7,13

In these episodes we got to see that it was not only some humans that would discriminate against Abhs but also some Abhs that would discriminate against humans (aka Jinto). The baron was one of those types despite the fact, or rather more so because of the fact, that he wasn’t full Abh himself. Like before, I felt no need for the unnecessary, overly sexual scenes in these episodes. For a character that they’re trying to pass off as not your stereotypical damsel, they sure do like to reduce her to just being a girl in some scenes.

However, I must say I appreciated that she was more headstrong and independent than some other female characters that we’ve been introduced to alongside male protagonists. I really like that she decides to continue along her career path to become a captain. I also found it funny when Jinto brought up that he wouldn’t live as long with her, it’s realistic but made me laugh when he brought it up. The final scene was cute, I always enjoy getting a little glimpse of what happens “after” the show ends.

[ngarc]

I hadn’t thought to compare it with Rose of Versailles, but I can definitely see the similarities of the protagonist learning the ways of nobility. I also think it’s understandable that the defeated people (humans) end up being very bitter and angry at those that took power over them and I’m sure that ends up being a major issue in the rest of the series. As for Lafiel’s parent talk, I am very curious about who her mother is, considering she said she knew her very well.

Crest of the Stars (Ep. 1, 2, 3): I thought the first episode of this show was really political. It kinda reminded me of “Barefoot Gen” with the immediate surrender of Earth after seeing the Abh’s power. One person says “Why did we not even put up a fight” and it kinda made me think of the aliens in Macross when they talk about being able to destroy earth. Except this time the humans totally bought it. 

The second episode reminded me a lot of “Rose of Versailles”. Jinto is learning how to be a nobleman, and growing up he was treated differently for that. Once again “Being powerful and RESPEKTed is so sad and hard”. I also really liked the first conversation between Jinto and Lafiel. As an International Studies major, it was cool seeing the cultural differences between them and how they interacted when introducing each other. Another interesting note was that one old lady was talking mad shit to Lafiel. I’m guessing a lot of people are still bitter about being forced into another culture and national identity. 

Episode 3 talked a lot about the differences between the humans and Abhs. We see this first when they talk about the paintings on the ship (Which, by the way, was really funny that they had landscapes on a spaceship). Lafiel relates to some things the same as Jinto, like the sunflowers, but the landscape is interpreted completely different between the two of them because of where they were raised. Another difference we learn is how most Abc’s are born. They are removed from the parents, have their cells purified (which sounds a bit like eugenics), and most are then birthed inside an artificial uterus. Some women choose to carry the child and give birth after its cells have been altered, simply for the unique experience but most are born the other way. We learned that Abh’s are raised by one parent, and, in Lafiel’s case, have no idea who their other gene donor is. At first, Jinto reacts really alarmed by this news, as if he is questioning if Abh’s feel love. And then Lafiel talks about if she is a child of love, and seems to calm his worries that she really is pretty similar to an other human except for where she was raised. 

So far this show has been pretty interesting and I look forward to seeing what happens.

[ngarc]

04.10.2018

on crest of the stars ep1,2,3

This show was okay. I liked some parts like the basic plot of this kid needing to go live with aliens that took over his world. I didn’t like other parts like the unnecessary panning over the girls body that happened way too many times. I felt bad for the protagonist when his father’s friend/assistant was so aggressive towards him even though he was a child when his father sold out the world. His anger was understandable but the poor kid didn’t deserve it. I almost thought Teal was trying to kidnap him or something.

I thought it was interesting to see the anime’s take on what it was like for a child raised in the aftermath of a war. Or at least that was my slight interpretation on the main character living with the aliens who won the war after his country/planet surrendered. It made me think of assimilation as well, and how some people just had to quickly adapt to their life after the war, some not even in their own country. I also thought there could be some racist commentary or commentary on the Japanese and American relations after the war, with how the aliens were treated by the people of Earth in episode 2. At the end of episode 2 there were scenes of war and destruction of Earth and I couldn’t tell if it had already happened or was predicting the future. I read elsewhere that it was propaganda to paint the aliens in a negative light but I’m not sure yet in what context it was supposed to be understood as that.

[ngarc]

I loved Boo so much too, I was so sad when he died. I also have to agree, shout out to chiseled jaw guard, he was a true unexpected hero even at the very end. I appreciated that Shu stayed positive and kept to his morals all throughout, and I would argue that Nabuca had switched to his side after Boo died because he stopped the other soldier from killing Shu and the other children. I also appreciated Sara not letting Abelia get shot and how that at least left a small moral message on forgiveness.

4/9 Viewing

Now and Then, Here and There - Eps. 6, 9, 13       This is by far the best assigned viewing/reading we’ve had in this class. I watched all 13 episodes and enjoyed every single one; let’s just say I got emotionally invested in the story and wanted to know what happened to each character. I will try and keep my thoughts relevant to episodes 6, 11, and 13, but will most likely just analyze the anime as a whole. If I recall correctly, episode 6 we see how both Shu and Sara have changed a lot from when we were first introduced to them. Early on, Shu is forced into becoming a soldier because that’s pretty much what all the young boys are manipulated into becoming. They’re promised by Hamdo that they’ll be able to safely return home to their villages if they behave and follow orders. In Shu’s case however, he’s just swept into the situation. Because of this he is now ordered to pillage one of the villages in the desert and kidnap all the women and children. And as always, Shu is the only one that realizes that what they’re doing is completely inhumane (aside from maybe Boo too). As for Sara, we see her go from an innocent girl with long blonde hair to someone who just murdered a guard to run away, then goes all Mulan and cuts her hair off. Shu promised her that everything would be ok, and it was anything but. We see her slowly slip from reality in episode 4, and she can barely even talk to one of the guard’s (I’ll refer to him as chiseled jaw guard) that tries to be nice to her…AND ends up inviting her to a “bedroom.” I’m assuming that cutting off her hair was symbolic of trying to forget Hellywood or that it’s representing “the new Sara.”

    Fast forward to episode 11, we’re now in the hidden village of Zari Bars. Chiseled jaw guard comes back and we find out he was a spy sent out by Hamdo to find the location of Zari Bars (I trusted him!). I think episode 9 was pretty important too, because we’re first introduced to Sis and see more development in terms of what everyone’s beliefs are for war. Sis believes that her village shouldn’t waste resources to send assassins out that never come back. Meanwhile…Mr. Jerk…Elamba will do whatever it takes to kill Hamdo so that no one must experience having their village burned and family killed. I understand his viewpoint, but he’s just so radical that I’m glad the doctor ends up calling him out for being no better than Hamdo. This all boils down to our discussion of the moralities of war. It’s a difficult debate to know whether you should send people out to protect your people, knowing they might not come back, versus just living life how it currently is in your small village. We also learn that Sara is pregnant, most likely from that creepy guard back in Hellywood. She feels so disgusted with herself that tries to commit suicide in the cavern, where Shu quickly stops and her tells her she must live! Chiseled jaw guard tries to convince Sara to escape him with him. Sara rejects! And we quickly see her becoming more like Sis and wanting to make sure all the children are protected.

    I want to take a moment to recognize my favorite character in this show: Boo. I think that if you didn’t watch all of the other episodes, especially 12, you won’t really understand how he was one of the only characters that remained pure. When Shu is first detained in the sleeping quarters, Boo is assigned to keep watch and refuses to shoot him even when he tries to get up. Boo is pretty young, probably a few years younger than most soldiers, and he is the only one willing to listen to Shu calling everyone out for being crazy. He was teased about being Nabuca’s sidekick and never wanting to fight, especially kill. And we see later that Boo was the one who helped Shu escape. I think what resonated with me the most was episode 7 (where I get my image from). Nabuca is threatening him about letting Shu go, but Boo tells him that they’re the ones who are crazy, not Shu. He’s broken down to tears and in disbelief about what they’ve done to everyone and all the people they’ve killed. I don’t think anyone else in the entire show felt bad about what they did (who was a part of Hellywood) and actively acknowledged what they did was wrong. Episode 12 is where Boo dies…my heart will go on…because he blocks Nabuca from a bullet, because one of the little girl’s overheard that her father was murdered by Nabuca (the assassin from previous episodes). Both the little girl, Soon, and Boo were probably the most innocent characters in the story, despite being put into difficult situations, they never really changed, as opposed to Sara for example.

    In the finale we see what has become of everyone due to the aftermath of Hellywood bombing Zari Bars. Majority of everyone was either killed or imprisoned. We see Sis give her final words to Sara, that she shouldn’t be angry at her baby due to what has happened to her, since it wasn’t their fault. I really liked Sis as a character, and was extremely ticked off that Elamba shot and hung her from wooden poles. I don’t think she would’ve died otherwise. She was protective of everyone and considered the people she cared about “her children,” even still Lala Ru when she discovered that “Larla” was a fake name. Deep down I was hoping that Nabuca would have had a change of heart before he was shot, and I didn’t get that wish. I’m glad that in the end he was still willing to talk to Shu and be accepting of him, despite swearing to never speak or help him ever again after he had escaped. In the end, Shu is able to escape along with Sara and all the children. Lala Ru floods Hellywood and it overheats and begins to collapse, drowning most of the soldiers and Hamdo. I find it very honorable of Sara not allowing the men of Zari Bars to shoot Abelia. You can probably make a strong argument how it’s better to forgive someone than murder them, even after all they did to your people. I’m saddened by the fact that Shu chose to go home and Sara chose to stay and become “the new Sis” and look after all the kids. I was hoping for an ending where they could still be friends and live together, but I understand that Shu really did want to go home and Sara wanted her child of Hellywood to be born in the world they were in. All in all, I give two big thumbs up to this anime…and I am sorry ahead of time to this long essay.

    And also chiseled jaw guard you get two thumbs up for sacrificing yourself too.

[ngarc]

04.08.2018

on now and then, here and there ep 6,11,13

This anime really held back no punches. It was super sad but in the end I’d say I came to like it. Sara suffered so much throughout it all, I was extremely shocked when the sixth episode just opened up the way it did. I couldn’t tell however, if she had actually gotten raped in that scene or if she got pregnant from a prior sexual assault. Either way I’m happy that in the end she was able to (mostly) recover from her trauma and chose to stay on that planet to take care of the children. I can’t imagine being able to go back to your regular life after going through the things that she did. I can also see how she could represent the comfort women of the war, as it looked like she was just sent to the soldier’s room to satisfy his needs. 

I also felt so bad for all of the children in the series. In episode six, it seemed to me like the Hellywood soldiers had just made children the front-line of their attack to make the people of the villages they attacked be more wary of attacking back. It was also upsetting that all those children had been ripped away from their own children and manipulated into fighting with the false promise of going back home after the war was over. Boo didn’t want to kill others and Nabuca only realized killing was not the answer after his close friend was shot, just seconds after (I think) saying that killing was their only option. I was super happy when Hamdo finally died, I only wish it had been more painful because that dude did not deserve such an easy way out. Here’s a list of people’s deaths that actually made me want to cry: Boo, Soon, Sis, and Nabuca. 

Finally, it was sad that Lalaru disappeared in the end after sacrificing herself to stop the battleship but I don’t get why she hadn’t done it earlier, she could have saved a lot more lives if she’d done something with her powers before. Had she never come face to face with those that were harmed during the war (the children) before then or was it Shu’s attitude that made her decide to sacrifice herself? At least Shu got to go home in the end and I would say he definitely matured by the end of the series, but how could he not have after all of that.

[ngarc]

04.05.2018

on now and then, here and there ep 1,2,3

So I chose this anime for my discussion leader day without knowing what it would be about. Now after watching the first three episodes, I think it’s okay. Not necessarily bad or good for me yet, but very heavy with the negativeness. I didn’t really like the protagonist at first because he just came off as a dumb and immature kid, giving me beginning Naruto vibes. Throughout the episodes though, he shows that he’s very positive and quick to care about others, as seen in how he didn’t let the kid that had attacked him fall to his death. Lalaru also just seemed like a pitiful damsel in distress character at first that I wouldn’t like, but after being introduced to the king it can kind of be understood why she might be so quiet. She showed some guts when she pushed him away.

The show overall is pretty heavy with how much violence and abuse is going on throughout, especially since it’s mainly geared towards children. Going along with that, the majority of the soldiers that we’ve seen thus far are also children. It can be seen that they’re in the middle of training but it looks like they start extremely young. It makes me wonder if they are just raised in training or what their situation is. Never mind I just read a description of the show as I’m typing this and I now know what their situation is and it is not. good. Besides that, it looks like a totalitarian (I think) military with an absolutely insane king ruling. It’s interesting that he says he was trying to establish a truly unified nation and I’ll go more into why I think it’s interesting during the discussion in class.

[ngarc]

I would definitely hope that people would choose the peaceful modern Japan as opposed to how it was in the past. But the fact of the matter is that there are still many people that would rather have power rather than peace, or that think if they had all the power then they would have peace. The choice of saving the individual vs. the country is also an interesting and complicated question they pose and I can definitely see why the main character’s argue for the individual after knowing that so many people are needlessly sacrificed in the pursuit or power or peace for an entire country.

4/4 - Zipang epi. 13, 21, & 25

I knew that Kusaka was going to reject some aspects of the future/modern Japan’s identity. Atleast he admitted that Imperial Japan had a lot of pitfalls but I dunno if the whole Zipang idea and changing history is a good. 

The graphic violence really puts an anti-war feel on the episodes in my opinion. Yonai’s emphasis on Japan learning from its mistake in order to rebuild really shows the criticism of the past. I know its impossible to really know but I’m curious about how the average Japanese would think towards this idea (Imperial or modern). I would guess that they’d prefer the more modern, peaceful Japan. Kodomatsu’s  desire to save as much lives as possible is very admirable but somewhat troublesome since he is interfering with history but there is the theme of focusing on saving individuals rather than sacrificing them for the idea of a “better country”. I really like what they did there because it sort of reverses ideology of the past/future yet gives us different outcomes for following those ideologies (if that makes any sense at all). The prime minister wants Japan to learn from its mistakes yet advocates to continue those mistakes by letting the 3 million people die in order for this ideal future to happen. I think both sides could really be argued.  Glad we get to see both sides of the issue with Yonai and Kodomatsu’s stances.