pjsks

[pjsks]

Genshiken OVA 1 (Pt. 2, Eps. 5, 10, 11)

Compared to the first season, I was not a huge fan of the OVA. I mean, to be fair, I was never a huge fan of the first season of Genshiken to begin with, but still. The OVA introduces the new members of Genshiken. One of the new characters introduced to us in the OVA is Ogiue Chika, who claims to hate otaku when she is introduced to the club. However, we learn her secret passion is drawing and reading yaoi. Throughout the OVA, we observe that it is difficult for her not to imagine indecent scenes involving the guys in Genshiken. Every time her secret passion is talked about, she gets flustered. Honestly, she was probably the most entertaining character in the OVA. It’s a pretty common phenomenon for fujoshi to exist, and there has been plenty of controversy about whether or not straight girls who consume BL are fetishizing gay men or not. One argument supporting fujoshi is that consuming BL allows a girl to experience romance without the inherent sexism that stems from hetero romances where there are usually strict gender roles. However, it can also be argued that a lot of BL are written with one of the males depicted as weaker and more feminine (in yaoi terms, the uke) and the other male more hyper masculine and dominant (the seme). In that manner, BL can often be unrealistic to actual gay couples because that sort of dynamic is very stagnant and is also assuming that one partner has to be placed in the same dynamic throughout the entire relationship when in reality that is usually more fluid.

[pjsks]

I completely agree with you here, and I especially liked your point about the unspoken class system because I definitely did not think about that while I was watching it. It's funny how classism can now apply to planet of inhabitation in a different society.

Mobile Suit Gundam (part 2)

I think episode 13 really shows that this is not just a fight between the Federation and Zeon.

Within this episode, we hear a character refer to Amuro as elite because he has a house on Earth. This shows that there is some kind of class system that exists in reference to what planet you live on. Earth being the most expensive and desirable planet to live on.

We see the true nature of many of the Zeon soldiers. They are drunk, cruel, and aggressive toward civilians. They do not need a suit in order to assert power, they just need their title to feel superior.

This war is tearing families apart, which has been shown by Zeon literally killing people's families, but also through the children at the refugee camp. Even still, the army members show absolutely no compassion for the children at this camp.

Also, we see how easy it has become for Amuro to start using a gun. As soon as he feels the slightest bit threatened, he starts shooting the army soldiers. He does so recklessly, just shooting with no real aiming happening. His mother is not happy that this war has turned him into another killing machine. Even if it is just to defend his own life, his outlook on killing has changed drastically.

Once in the Gundam, Amuro starts shooting like crazy, going against the orders of the Federation and putting more people in danger. He then willingly leaves his mother behind, symbolizing how he is really starting a new life as a soldier.

It's not until episode 20 where we see genuine sorrow from the soldiers in the Federation, all of them blame themselves for the death of Ryu, and maybe it could have been avoided through better communication or less of a power struggle, but it is likely he knew what he was getting himself into from the very beginning.

Overall I think this just really shows how war changes a population of people, as well as what power does to a person.

[pjsks]

I liked reading your post! Being involved in fandoms and fandom subculture definitely does not mean you'll automatically feel included. The context is there and can unify the otaku, but otaku can also be gatekeep-y towards others who share different opinions on the same source material. Generally, this does not seem to be something huge in these episodes but I was just thinking about it in the context of today's society of fandom.

Genshiken (SUB) — OVA 1 Part 2; Ep. 5, 10, 11

Just as in the last part of the Genshiken that we watched, this part emphasized further the nature of the fandom of Japanese entertainment, as we understand it to be in the current (although stereotypical, sorry if this is problematic of me), as well as elucidated upon what we have come to know as the nature of the “otaku” (ironic I also just mentioned this in the last post…). 

These few episodes and the OVA, I found it that is further showed how being in such a fandom subculture, as is being an otaku, can be a unifying factor as people of differing backgrounds come together to celebrate and enjoy the similar things which they value in their shared subculture, fandom, or whatever other form of organization one may attribute to it. However, as can be seen in the OVA, it can be an alienating factor, too, for those that are not privy to the aspects and facets of what it means to be in the fandom and engender the essence of being an otaku. 

Whilst this sort of barrier can be sort of socially awkward for both parties if they interact, as the way the interact and behave, fundamentally, are different as their outlooks on the aspects of their life and social capabilities differ, once this sort of alienation and weird outlook on the culture of the otaku is broken (and one may begin to indulge, but not necessarily relate or identity with) it can, once again, be a unifying factor. 

The Japanese entertainment that the otaku, at least in the purview of this anime, obsess over is not just limited to Japanese people. As showcased within the anime itself, American people also enjoy and partake in such subculture and are equally as obsessed. This further elucidates upon the point of unification that is present within the otaku culture, despite the apparent differences between each character.

[pjsks]

Mobile Suit Gundam (Eps. 13, 20, 32)

These episodes really show how war can change human beings, even the most empathetic of people. Children who are exposed so early to war will of course mold their minds to cope with it, which ultimately leads to a loss of empathy and numbness to killing and death. We see this with Amuro, who starts out with slight hesitation but grows used to the routine of war and death, even contributing to it himself despite his young age. There is a stark transition from Amuro just being a normal boy to becoming a war-hardened soldier. Ultimately, he develops apathy towards acts of war that would be seen as despicable in peacetime. In the beginning of the series, Amuro still fulfilled his duty as a soldier to the best of his abilities but he did not truly embody a soldier’s values and instead was just trying to serve his nation. By the end of the series, Amuro’s loss of innocence and constant exposure to war is what causes him to take the actions he does.

[pjsks]

I like your point about how despite the humor throughout the show, it still depicts very real issues about gender performativity in the workplace, which is made entertaining as a silly little cartoon.

Aggretsuko

This show is an interesting depiction of the office work culture—the characters represented by anthropomorphic animals.

Aggretsuko makes clear how one should act in society if they want to get by. Many of the characters put up facades that facilitate relationships between coworkers. For example, the director and new recruit act all friendly towards each other at first. 

Although it is comedic on the surface, Retsuko’s anger reflects her workplace conditions: the constant power harassment from her director combined with the fact she has accepted there is nothing to do about it because of how the system is structured. No wonder Retsuko has developed a habit of relieving stress the way she does.  

Retsuko closes herself off from everyone so that no one will ever find out about her late night hobby. She is not at wrong here because her coworkers also keep to themselves. However, when someone like Retsuko is consumed by the work culture, it might be better to connect to a coworker. After all, this might be one of her best options to resisting. 

More on acting, Washimi and Gori only display an aura of strong women, but it is all an act. This can be connected to gender performativity: Butler argues it is the result of repeated actions that dictates identity, particularly gender. The two of them have gotten used to acting strong and independent—from the way the walk to the way they sit—that they have constructed this idea of a strong woman for themselves. 

I liked the part when the polar bear spoke briefly about marriage. He explains it is akin to losing part of your identity because you will have to bring another person’s life into your own life, which may limit what you could have done by yourself. Further, that is a sacrifice part of growing up. For some reason, I found this scene to be very telling.

[pjsks]

Hetalia Axis Powers

I remember trying to get into Hetalia years ago because it was so popular but I just… couldn’t. It was not doing wonders for my attention span at all. I might have considered it more if the episodes were actually longer, but it was just so much work for me to click through episodes considering there were so many and every single five minute episode has an opening AND ending. So, that’s like, what? Maybe three minutes of actual content at best? It just seems very… impractical. Now, since this anime was a part of this class’s curriculum, of course I had to sit down and watch it for real. I was thoroughly unimpressed, like many. I knew there would be some offensive jokes in there but even the non-offensive humor was just so outdated. And this is coming from me, the kind of person that laughs at everything. I was watching it with my friend who had seen it years ago because I was like, I need someone to hold me accountable because otherwise I will literally not even watch it. It worked and now I know more about Hetalia than I need to know. Moral of the story, Hetalia is not a good source of history.

[pjsks]

You are literally spot on with the whole thing about the sub and dub being different shows. I showed this entire post to one of my friends who watched Hetalia years ago and she was like this is so correct PLEASE. I watched sub starting out until I decided that I wanted to multitask so I put on the dub and those accents bro. The writing?? The script??? Who let this happen???

Hetalia

I cannot rate this with a good conscience ❤

I have autism and Hetalia is my special interest so this is literally 3k words long and I have absolutely no regrets. I could have gone on longer but I wanted to remain relevant to the class. If you don't reply to me I will cry.

I'm gonna break this into a few sections so you can skip around. I'm going to try and stick to just season 1 with this discussion, which won't be too hard cause it's the most insane one. Also, I just want to say that I wrote this all before I read the attached article and I'm now seeing that I literally could have written that article because I know everything about Hetalia.

When do we cross the line between stereotyping and just straight-up racism?

Hey, why are we idolizing WWII Germany?

Oh, we are portraying war as silly and funny, okay cool.

Is this Japanese Nationalism? (a surprisingly controversial argument)

The Sub and the Dub are 2 totally different shows

The Fandom (and linking back to other class-related terms)

Okay I'll name one good thing

Alright, let's get started.

1.

A lot of people will argue that Hetalia is not racist at all because they are making fun of everyone. If you are portraying all of the countries as their most common stereotypes then it evens out in the end. I would argue that this is in fact, not the case. Especially when you set your show during WWII. I will give Himaruya credit in that he mostly focuses on European countries to make fun of, making a lot of the stereotypes less so targeted at minorities. However, a lot of these jokes are still highly insensitive and frame some countries in a worse light than others

Just look at the difference between how Northern Italy is portrayed as opposed to Germany or Japan. Or how France is a predator, Belarus is into her literal brother, and Spain is seen as a creep. It is often times mocking an entire country's intelligence, appearance, or personality. While it is not always that serious, it does lead me to the second point.

When you personify a country and mock it, you aren't just mocking a piece of land, you are mocking an entire population of people. These jokes may seem harmless but they can still be hurtful. While I don't believe that liking Hetalia translates to your actual views on world events, it can unconsciously impact your real-life thoughts and behaviors.

(also why does Britain see imaginary magical creatures, what is that referencing? According to the wiki, it is some popular folklore story of a rabbit who lives on the moon but like.. what? If Himaruya was doing this much research into these countries' cultural backgrounds why is he portraying them like this?)

2.

This show portrays WWII Germany in too positive of a light for my liking. I've noticed a trend in anime where they seem to love Germany (or Germanic aesthetics) a lot (AOT I'm looking at you). Now I'm not well-versed in the interpersonal relationships between Japan and Germany, but the idolization is not it. The way that Japan in this show is portrayed as being literally obsessed with Germany is the biggest example (Italy is also shown having an immense appreciation for Germany and is often gushing about his positive qualities, even writing him a song while he was being kept prisoner). But I mean look at how Germany is portrayed, even his stereotypes are mostly positive, he is hardworking but helps out his fellow allies, makes great food, and is super strong. His only negative trait is that he sometimes doesn't understand social scenarios and that makes him very awkward. However, he will always go out of his way to try and better understand his friends (like Italy) by purchasing books to try and help him learn the appropriate way to act in scenarios).

This is 10x worse in the dub but we will get there. When one of your main characters, the one you are portraying in the best light, is a literal war criminal hot anime boy, you can understand why I would be concerned. I mean they gave him the whole blonde hair blue eyed appearance like come on. Now I'm not going to go into depth on fandom or anything here but Hetalia knows that its demographic is young tweens (primarily girls) so how can you be surprised when this portrayal of Germany leads to WWII fanfics sympathizing with Germany and 14 y/o girls in German military uniforms doing questionable things. (also Germany becomes a canonically gay character in Hetalia in like season 4 or something and that just makes me so mad, like yeah, of course, the gay character is WWII Germany that so cool) (okay, I would like to clarify that technically Sweden is the only confirmed gay character. Sweden is bad representation though because he has one-sided feelings for Finland and makes him uncomfortable by constantly referring to him as his wife)

3.

I mean yeah, obviously this isn't going to be an accurate portrayal of history but some of this is just totally misinformation.

Austria invading Germany is literally just Austria annoying him in his house for a really long time. But also there's like actual wars... and like all of the events of WWI are canon... and like there are some really serious episodes

Also, we literally see a bunch of countries going to war personally, like fighting on the frontlines. Which to me confirms that these people are all literal murderers, like mass murderers lowkey.

Do you know how many weird USSR jokes there are throughout this? So many. Lithuania is pretty much just in a running gag where he keeps getting manipulated by Russia into coming back to live with him. (Yeah, there are so many USSR fics as well).

ALSO! why is the American revolution portrayed as the saddest thing to happen thus far, the storyline is stretched out from episodes 16-20 and it is all drastically different from the tone of the rest of the show. Britain is literally on his knees crying saying that he can't shoot America (which also implies these countries can physically harm/kill each other). Like that is the war you wanted to make all sad and sentimental? Why? Is this how Japanese people think that we view the Revolutionary war? Because that is a pretty inaccurate view.

Anyways back to the original point. Some historical events should not be played for laughs sometimes. It is incredibly disrespectful for actual victims of these tragedies to portray these events as funny or goofy.

Though I will give credit because Himaruya does make all sides of the war look like idiots who have no clue what they are doing, which is a sentiment I can get behind.

4.

As a both non-Japanese and non-Korean person I can not really give my opinion on this however I can share with you both sides of the argument. This is mostly in relation to the original comic strip, but has some relevance to the anime as well. I just wanted to bring it up because it is interesting to me. (This is briefly mentioned in the article but I wanted to expand on the argument).

You may or may not have noticed that there is no South Korea character in this show, however, there was in the original comic. In the comics, South Korea is a pervert who is constantly touching Japan and he also takes credit for the inventions of other countries. Now I'm obviously not going to go into the past history of these 2 countries because that would be incredibly long but the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia and determined that it was a "crime against South Koreans, akin to slander". So yeah, South Korean people were not happy with this portrayal and the character was inevitably removed from the anime before release. (This is a real picture of the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia, the corner shows South Korea groping Japan inappropriately)

There are two opposing views to the Japanese Nationalism take and I'll link them both (Belittling Japanese Nationalism Hetalia: Axis Powers is the title of the first one)

The first one pretty much argues that Hetalis is not Japanese nationalism because it paints Japan in just as negative of a light as all of the other countries, no one is left out of being made fun of. Japan is seen as socially awkward, emotionally repressed, and obsequious.

The second argues that Japan is often shown to be more intelligent than other characters as well as often being of the voice of reason (especially compared to China) and most of his negative attributes are not nearly as harmful as some others in Japan’s case, even his “negative” stereotypes are inoffensive, as they pose no threat of meiwaku.

I think we see in the dub that Americans are a little more willing to make fun of themselves. Though there are a few good Japan self digs, like the capitalism joke in one of the first episodes.

5.

Oh boy I've been waiting for this.

The dub is 10x more offensive than the sub. Most people consider it a crack dub.

So many of the jokes are rewritten that it is practically a different show. The sub is from a Japanese perspective and the dub is from an American perspective.

First of all the accents in the dub are so bad like it is actually atrocious. Japan is really annoying because not only is his voice stereotypical but he always says 'nani?' instead of 'what?' as if that is a normal thing that people do. The narrator is the best part of the dub and she is hilarious.

So I don't really feel comfortable even typing out the jokes here so if you want to hear them I included the time stamps for the three nazi jokes I remember in season 1 (the last two being worse).

Episode 1 (1:35:1:38)

Episode 7 (2:13-2:19)

Episode 48 (1:28-1:31)

Those are just a few examples and it gets worse. The dub literally had no reason to include these jokes because there is not even an insinuation of them in the sub and it makes literally everything a million times worse.

I will give the dub some credit for being so utterly ridiculous that it's funny. I will provide a few timestamps for the funniest jokes that only appear in the dub from the first 19 episodes (but I really recommend looking up Hetalia dub funny moments on youtube because some of them are really priceless):

Episode 13: (1:45-2:05)

Episode 14: (1:12-1:22)

Episode 17: (0:59-1:15) (2:06-2:11)

6.

Now I've had this post typed up for a bit and originally I wasn't going to talk about the fandom but after reading the article that he assigned (and going through the fandom unit), I see that there is a lot of reference to fandom in particular so I want to at least mention it.

Not the 2 biggest problems with the Hetalia fandom are racism and the fetishization of gay men.

As mentioned in the article, there have actually been multiple fan incidents of them dressing up in WWII German military uniforms Germany/Prussia cosplay, and standing in front of temples with fake guns or doing nazi salutes in convention photos (If we want to bring racism and fetishization of gay men together there were two people who kissed in a holocaust memorial museum in Italy and Germany cosplay... there is no picture of this so it might be a rumor but it was well-known so it is worth mentioning). There were also a lot of people using imperialist Japan flags in cosplay/fanart and writing incredibly inappropriate fanfiction about real-life events.

If you would like to see any of these incidents feel free to look up "Hetalia the Boston Incident" I don't really wanna include the photos here.

The fetishization is not unique to the Hetalia fandom, but it is amplified to the max. Obviously, within Hetalia, there are almost no female characters, so this leaves only male characters to be shipped with one another. Now suddenly Germany is an uwu gay bean and not an actual war criminal. At the moment of writing this Hetalia has 32105 M/M fics on ao3 which is only one of the three fanfiction sites, with ao3 not even becoming popularized until after the peak of the Hetalia fandom. (the most popular ship being America/England who refer to each other as brothers in the show as England raised America, showing another problematic part of the fandom). I would argue that Hetalia has one of the gayest fandoms (My Hero Academia is giving it a run for its money though) and I agree with the article that it is inaccurate to say that this is only done by straight cis women. The fact of the matter is a lot of queer teens used Hetalia as an outlet to express their own sexuality through these characters. The straight women that do fetishize BL are likely only doing so because anime creators suck at writing good female characters.

I think that the "level of gayness" turns straight fans away from watching the show (again MHA is the same way today) as it is hard to interact with the fandom without seeing some yaoi content. However, many people view this as something wrong or cringy, when in reality it is a normal part of fandom culture. When gay people have such little content that is actually gay, you cannot blame us for creating our own through characters that we like/relate to. Again, I think the only issues that arise here are the problematic ships that give young people a bad impression of relationships (abusive, incest, pedophilia, etc) or the arguable problematic ones like China/Russia or Lithuania/Russia as again these are real countries with real political relations. (However, I will never forget the time that there was Russia/China fanart on the news, maybe they approve and I shouldn't be complaining)

The thing is, Hetalia only seems so bad because the fandom is so large and so young. A lot of shows have fandoms that sexualize the characters and have kinda problematic fans, but the sheer volume makes things seem worse. This is something that we covered when we watched Genshiken, but there is a lot of negative stigma behind this fandom in particular, but it is just a loud minority that gets a lot of news coverage between fandoms.

It also raises the question "Is a show responsible for the response of its fans?"

Because while Himaruya has no control over what people do with his characters or how they interpret a plot, if a majority of people are leaving your show spouting vaguely racist rhetoric and interpreting your show one way, isn't there some validity in that interpretation? I think a creator has to be aware of their audience, which in this case is a very young and impressionable audience who might not understand how offensive some of the things they are doing really are. They don't hold the same ability to separate fiction from reality.

That being said Hetalia had a large impact on fandom culture as a whole, largely starting things like 'ask a character' panels (along with like homestuck but we don't talk about her). If you go to any convention you will probably find a Hetalia cosplayer, and if you watch any dub there is probably a voice actor from Hetalia there.

I also want to mention Hetalia is also a fandom full of cultural capital, If you don't know every niche fact, you're not a real fan, If you haven't read Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart you haven't even met the entry-level requirements to be a fan. There are also no characters that are too sacred to be altered within the fandom. If you want to put Germany in a maid dress have at it, if you want to see all the characters as girls you're in luck cause Himaruya literally drew them. Fanfictions can take place anywhere from WWI to the present day and you can put any characters in any scenario and make it believable. There are thousands of pieces of fanwork, fan art, fangames, and fan AUs. These characters are malleable to fit your personal preference and there is really no way you could be mad at this as Himaruya does this himself, with no real established canon.

a Hetalia fan once said, "No one cares if Hetalia was written by a Japenese Imperialism apologist when you're 31 chapters deep into a human Au soulmate fic about Austria inviting Prussia to see his boyband perform in Berlin"

Himaruya is also the king of moe characteristics because he turned these Hetalia men into any cute thing he could think of, Chibi versions (Chibitalia), female versions (Nyotalia), and cat versions (Nekotalia). He has no reservations about drawing the characters in a dress or in cat ears. He gave the characters human names to allow for more standardized human AU's and made a DS dating game. He encourages fans to take his characters and use them in their fanworks as they see fit, canon is up to interpretation itself. I think Himaruya himself was a huge part of fandom culture (not that I could tell you cause no one knows anything about the guy) and saw how the female characters were often treated by fans and turned it on its head, allowing for females to sexualize the males this time.

Also, none of the male characters in this show resembles a Hegemonic form of masculinity. Even the most masculine character in the show (Germany) can be seen doing more "feminine things" like wearing a dress or proposing to a man. Which, you know, I guess is a good diversion from things you would typically see in an anime of this nature (but again there are a lot of instances of characters being feminine being played for laughs, like a man being girly is something inherently funny). Feat. Germany proposing to Italy with a tomato ring.

7.

I am Hetalia's biggest hater, however, I cannot deny the impact that it has had on my life and how much I love to talk about it. Hetalia is what introduced me to anime and fandom (and tumblr) for the first time. I met a lot of people I still talk to today because of this show. It encouraged me and a lot of other people to actually get interested in history. Thanks to this show I can identify every country in Europe, and it was a lot easier to remember historical facts if I just imagined the Hetalia characters. Also, Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart is a literary masterpiece and there is a reason it almost has a five-star rating on goodnotes (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22064556) I love you George DeValier I hope you're doing good wherever you are.

I would like to make it abundantly clear that despite everything I've said that might make me sound like a woke blue-haired liberal, I don't really think this show is some horribly racist show or that the people who enjoy it are racist. I just wanted to provide a deeper outlook on the impact a seemingly dumb show can have on real people. I can't really blame the show for the terrible response of the fandom and it did honestly get better in later seasons that are not focused on WWII.

Despite all the bad stuff, it is a relatively funny little 5-minute watch, and you can really just jump in at any point you want to. If you don't take it as seriously as I do you might even enjoy it a little.

If you actually read this far I have major respect for you, I'm really excited to see what the general consensus on this show is.

Prussia and South Italy were my favorites in case anyone cared

If you're wondering why I didn't do my presentation on Hetalia despite my extensive knowledge, it is because I would be incredibly biased and I would go off the rails I think.

Also, my biggest fear is current Hetalia fans finding this and killing me, that might seem irrational but the Gundam fans found me last time so I wouldn't put it past them.

[pjsks]

SwampCon Blog Post

So… SwampCon!! SwampCon was very hectic for me. I literally woke up at like 7:00 AM on Saturday to get ready. I had two cosplays planned for Saturday because my friend wanted to do matching cosplays but I also had to change into a different cosplay for a panel I had later that day. So on Saturday, I was Razor from Genshin Impact (to match with my friend’s Bennett) and later, I was Quanxi from Chainsaw Man for a panel I was in at 7:30. We filmed a bunch of TikToks because my friend loves making TikToks.

I love cosplaying and attending conventions but I do get overwhelmed by the environment sometimes so a few hours into con I drove home to take a break. That wig headache was absolutely awful and I forgot to take painkillers before going. I was low on gas though so I had to go get gas as Quanxi which was kind of funny. Finding parking again when I came back was kind of horrible so I parked illegally (oop). The Chainsaw Man panel was basically a mini-competition between the panelists (other Chainsaw Man characters) in order to win a Pochita plush, and I won >:)!!

My favorite part of conventions though, as funny as it is, are the K-POP random play dance panels. There was one on Saturday that my friend Nic hosted (it was 2 hours long and I was kind of DYING) and another one on Sunday that my dance crew (Genesis!!! go follow us on Instagram @genesisdance_crew) hosted in collaboration with another student organization (the Korean Undergraduate Student Association). I also watched my friends compete in the dance contest which was cool. On Sunday, I had a ton of homework to catch up on and I didn’t feel like doing a super complicated cosplay, so I borrowed my roommate’s Kakegurui uniform and cosplayed Yumeko with my actual hair (because it’s black and I have bangs). The only panel I actually went to that day was that RPD that we were hosting, but I still had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends.

[pjsks]

I think the reading about gender performativity really fits in here. Shuichi wasn’t performing her gender assigned at birth, so she was ostracized by both her family and her peers as a result.

The Wandering Son (ep 1, 7, 9, 10)

★★★★☆

I want to say this anime relates back to the Butler reading where she says "one isn't born a woman, one becomes a woman." For example, Shuichi although born male, feels more female. And although on the basis of gender performativity, they don't necessarily act out the mannerisms of a female as seen by the fact that they tend to mainly dress male. We can see this is due to the reactions of the people around them when they do choose to express themselves as they feel. Now in days, we have a society have become more accepting of gender identity and expression which allows more people to be open about this. It was interesting to get this insight on two young students struggling with their own identity. It really emphasizes this idea that one "isn't born" into a gender, the bodies we have don't define our interests, mannerisms, and how we truly want to express ourselves.

[pjsks]

Wandering Son Blog Post

Wandering Son is centered around these two middle schoolers who are trans—Nitori Shuichi and Takatsuki Yoshino. Nitori is a trans girl, while Takatsuki is a trans boy. The anime does a really good job of illustrating obstacles that trans people face, such as acceptance from family, acceptance from peers, and gender dysphoria.

It was actually really difficult to watch some parts because my heart really went out to Shuichi in moments where he realized he wasn’t accepted by others for his identity. I know his sister in particular wasn’t being transphobic in the first episode on purpose and it came more out of a place of ignorance and also possessiveness over her belongings, but it still really hurt to watch. Saori is really sweet for being one of Shuichi’s allies (I mean yeah, it’s because she had a crush on Shuichi but STILL) because Shuichi really needed more people on her side. The whole love web in this anime was really confusing to me though. Also, I hated the pacing because it was a little too slow for my liking, and the graphics weren’t really my thing. Overall though, I think this show is able to send an important message for trans youths and others who want to better understand the struggle of growing up knowing you are trans.

[pjsks]

Aggretsuko Blog Post

Aggretsuko is literally such a cute watch. Above the whole cute animated humanoid animals in the office aesthetic, I think the show does a great job of portraying issues in the workplace, especially with types of discrimination like sexism. It contains a lot of very relatable content despite the unrealistic mascots. Retsuko herself is actually so relatable! I literally love her so much. She also seems to have a good outlet for all the pent-up stress and anger in her life. Yes, it sounds super violent but it really is a good coping mechanism to release all of those feelings that build up after all the interactions she has to deal with on a day to day basis in her job as an accountant. I also personally really like karaoke as a stress reliever but not to her magnitude. I actually prefer to just sing in the shower or in the car. Music in general is a great stress reliever for me though. I have no idea how Retsuko does it because there were so many moments where I felt her frustration anf annoyance at her coworkers and all the people she has to deal with.

[pjsks]

I really liked your last point about how the show portrays these girls who act their age and do girly things but still are able to fulfill large responsibilities. For being released when it was, it’s a very empowering message against sexism and that girly hobbies are to be looked down upon if you want to be respected.

Sailor Moon (1, 2, 4, 8) Reflection

I've never watched Sailor Moon before so I went in with zero expectations, and getting my eardrums blasted with Usagi's screaming was certainly something.

That being said, it's clear that Sailor Moon encompasses the idea of femininity and embodies an ideal for young girls to strive for. You have these normal 14-year-old girls that take interest in things that are portrayed to be girlish, like jewelry, staying fit, and the topic of romance. At the same time, they have an alternate identity where they fight evil monsters that aim to hurt humans. The Sailor Scouts' femininity is never once put to question even as they fight because they use that femininity (the brooch and wand that Luna provides) as a medium of protecting themselves. The four assigned episodes mostly focus on how Usagi deals with the issues, and she struggles with accepting her role as Sailor Moon. She's clumsy, a crybaby and clearly not a fighter, and in every battle scene we've seen so far, she cries and dodges attacks until someone intervenes for her or tells her that she can do it or yells instructions at her... or all of the above. After that, she takes action and the rest of the fight goes without a hitch, but it seems as though Usagi struggles with reconciling her ability to protect humanity with her everyday, mundane self, even if her Sailor Scout persona is depiction of an ideal girl figure--and maybe that's exactly why it's so difficult for Usagi to understand that Sailor Moon's responsibilities are her own.

Modeling the heroes' outfits as sailor schoolgirl outfits is an interesting choice because while it is a moe symbol and often a sort of fetish, Sailor Moon as a work by a girl for girls means that there are those who intend on taking femininity and pushing past the societal constraints. Girls are allowed to like jewelry, girls are allowed to want to feel pretty, girls are allowed to fall in love and dream of their crushes, so on and so forth; they can do all this all while striving for success. It's a direct counter to those who expect women to always be subservient and exist to help men, which is something that I thought was nice.

[pjsks]

Sailor Moon (Eps. 1, 2, 4, 8) Blog Post

Hyperfemininity is a very strong theme in Sailor Moon. Femininity and things that are seen as signs of feminine weakness are instead tools of empowerment. For example, Usagi cries and it turns into a shockwave to disarm her enemies. Her tiara, also a feminine item, is used as a weapon. Her source of power is a piece of jewelry —a brooch. Her “hero costume” is, at its core, a sexualized school uniform. One of Usagi’s favorite hobbies is shopping, which is also seen as very feminine.

Gender roles are constantly being mixed up—heroism is usually seen as masculine but Sailor Moon is very feminine and people don’t question her power. At the same time, while Sailor Moon is a beacon of power, she also has moments where she is a damsel in distress and has to be “saved” by a man—Tuxedo Mask. The main villain of this arc is a woman whose lackeys are men.

Obsessing over every pound, while it can be a universal, is largely seen as a girly worry. Dieting trends are especially associated with femininity. In episode 4, we see teenage girls and adult women alike that are susceptible to societal expectations. However, I think it’s a bit tone-deaf for someone like Usagi, who is literally the beauty standard, to be worrying about something like half a pound. She is literally blonde-haired and blue-eyed with an extremely slender figure. While anyone can be subject to body dysmorphia and worry about weight, this is a show for young girls and the message in this episode did not feel wholly positive.

There are many times where the femininity of Sailor Moon is exaggerated, which is where hyperfemininity comes in. All in all, Sailor Moon was a nostalgic childhood watch and I love this show dearly despite the slightly outdated themes.

[pjsks]

I love your point about how this show highlights personal struggles of characters involved in fandom culture each in their own different ways. Back when Genshiken aired, otaku culture definitely was a lot more niche. Nowadays, we see anime merch all over the place, especially in malls.

Genshiken (III)

word count: 308 words 03.08.23

This I've looked forward to: drawing to a close our discussion of this show. I certainly do feel as though other shows and films we've studied have been far more deserving of week-long attention, but alas, the nuances of belonging to a community typically looked down upon by society take precedence.

Personal dislike aside... Genshiken Nidaime primarily focuses on the theme of generational differences and the evolution of otaku culture. This is very similar with the themes of season one, except with the added exploration of taboo interests among female club members.

Over the course of the season, the characters grapple with the changing landscape of the otaku subculture, including the rise of online fandoms and the increasing mainstream acceptance of anime and manga. They also confront personal challenges related to their identities and relationships, including Ogiue's struggles with her past as a fujoshi and the romantic tension between Hato, a new member who is exploring his gender identity through crossdressing, and Madarame, a longtime member who is grappling with his own feelings. Certainly, many of these personal concerns are relevant among many members of our society today— the series does well in high lighting personal struggles and overcoming the in a fairly realistic manner.

The mainstream acceptance of anime and manga has both positive and negative effects on otakus, depending on the individual and their perspective. Increased mainstream acceptance has led to greater accessibility of anime and manga, with more titles being officially licensed and available for purchase or streaming, but with the growing popularity of anime and manga, there has been an influx of casual fans who may not fully understand or appreciate the culture behind these hobbies. This might lead to the commercialization and homogenization of anime and manga, with some otakus feeling that the unique and niche aspects of the subculture are being lost.

[pjsks]

Genshiken 2nd Season Blog Post

These Genshiken episodes offer us a slightly different perspective of fandom culture with the introduction of other types of characters. Hato is a very interesting character to me especially, keeping in mind that opinions on LGBTQ+ matters have evolved since 2004.

People are welcome to disagree with me but I think Hato is just a guy who is not mentally ready to even consider giving his real life self a label that is not heterosexual, but media consumption is fair game. (I will use he/him pronouns for Hato here because the show does.) He seems to consider his consumption of BL as separate from his actual person. Because he’s afraid of being seen as gay and deems it not socially acceptable to consume BL as a male, he cross-dresses as a girl when joining Genshiken. It’s interesting that he does this all to avoid the label of gay and will even cross-dress as a girl to avoid that. It would be different if he actually wanted to be a girl because he identified as a girl. For this reason, it would be difficult to determine Hato’s actual gender identity and sexuality, but I would definitely say Hato is queer.

He also kind of separates attraction, if that makes sense?? Like there’s some discussion about sexual fantasies but from more of a reader’s perspective, which is interesting because it feels a bit separate from your own personal sexual orientation in that manner.

[pjsks]

I like how the main characters interact with otaku culture in their own different ways, which highly reflects how it actually is. You can have two people who are super into the same franchise, but one could be a fanfiction writer, one could be a cosplayer, and one could be a video essay creator. But all of these people are able to come together and enjoy the fruits of each others’ efforts in the fandom.

Genshiken (Episodes 1,2,3,9)

The anime we had to watch was called Genshiken, and of all of the animes so far I was most confused as to why we were watching this one. That was until I watched it… This anime fit so perfectly with the reading that we did about otaku culture with each of the club members having their own “specialization”. Tanaka has a inclination towards cosplay; Kugayama’s interests lie with drawing manga; Kosaka is very much a avid video game player; Madarame has the biggest obsession out of the four. Something interesting to note is that each of the four main characters while being so a part of the otaku culture are able to draw the line between what is fiction and what is real life, they just would rather be in their world of fiction than in their own reality. Another thing that I was able to pick up on is how the show goes about comparing otaku culture to something that would be more prevalent in a “normal” lifestyle such as when Saki goes shopping while the four main members of the otaku group go shopping in their world of manga and anime and video games. This show brings to light how people that enjoy things like anime and manga and video games are perfectly capable of living everyday lives the difference between them and someone that doesn't partake in these activities is essentially nothing as people that aren't into these hobbies have other hobbies that they are a part of. As mentioned above Madarame seems to have the biggest problem with living a “normal” life as he will sacrifice his health in order to get the prize he wants at the comic fest (he has a pretty severe wrist injury but still draws manga). Also we see Kosaka having an unhealthy obsession and how he has this collection of anime adult videos and ditches his girlfriend in order to go wait in lines for different things from games he plays. Overall I think this anime did a pretty good job in putting a picture and story to those of the otaku culture!

[pjsks]

Genshiken (Eps. 1, 2, 3, 9) Blog Post

My general opinion on Genshiken is mixed, probably like most others. I personally have witnessed people that have qualities similar to those of the characters in Genshiken as a cosplayer who attends conventions pretty regularly, as well as someone who has been active in many online anime/video game/other related fandoms since middle school (bad, bad idea, I know, I wish I could have told myself that ten years ago). Some guys are absolutely depraved when it comes to their waifus. The obsession can get pretty crazy.

At the same time, though, I can kind of understand the comfort of hyperfixating on something fictional. It’s kind of like a coping mechanism for loneliness, and “otaku” are depicted as weird loners. I’m really giving this the benefit of the doubt because it was aired almost 20 years ago at this point. The show literally openly discusses hentai. I think that beyond the whole ick I get from seeing what type of stuff these characters actually prefer to consume, I can understand how it builds a community—which is essentially the “fandom.” And with that fandom, like how the conjunctive reading discusses, comes the addition of economy. “Otaku” are the target customers that conventions, vendors, artists, etc. can profit off of.

Like think about this… why do we buy anime merch? Why does it hold that much significance? I could literally be holding a keychain from an anime I’ve never seen or will never care about and feel absolutely nothing, but a keychain featuring a character I know and love sparks joy and will make me want to buy it. Fandom runs the convention economy, and it also could be an artists’ main source of income. It’s really interesting to think about, especially how it’s highlighted in episode 3.