#THEY ARE UTENA CODED for a lot of different reasons

[citroncynique]

If you cannot break from the eggshell, the world is naught but a prison where you are blinded and confined.

[purgemarchlockdown]

Milgram and The Rose Bride

(CWs: Child Abuse, Cults, Unhealthy Relationships, Bullying, Sexism, Discussions of Ownership in the context of Marriage, minor mentions of sexual abuse and minor mentions of sexual abuse in relation to Minors)

(Spoilers for Utena!)

Alright so, since I'm putting this on the Milgram blog, most likely most people who see this don't know what the Rose Bride is and what that means so lets answer that question.

The Rose Bride is a concept in the 90s Psychological Shoujo Anime Revolutionary Girl Utena, in which the main premise is that a bunch of highschoolers are dueling for marriage (ownership) of the Rose Bride so that they can revolutionize the world.

Now, the thing is, The Rose Bride is a Real Person, and the implications of her ownership and the environment that Allows for that to happen are explored through the series, and the reason why I'm bringing it up in relation to Milgram is this.

"In the end, all girls are the rose bride."

Let's talk about Mahiru for a bit since her being so focused on romantic love makes it a lot easier to explain what I mean by this.

In T1 we get this interrogation from Mahiru:

T1Q20: What do you think about smoking? I've never smoked before, but I might copy him if who I love smokes.

This is a deeply concerning sentence, Mahiru has just stated that she is willing to do something incredibly physical destructive to herself if the person she loves is doing the same. This connects back to her thoughts on having "matching love."

We fought sometimes, I was happy to get hurt Let's have matching pain, this sickness is pretty bad This is a claim of responsibility From the two of us with matching love

Now, the Rose Bride has to anything the person who is engaged to her tells her to do. The Rose Bride is not allowed any sort of Autonomy or Agency.

(Transcript Link for Utena Scripts)

Touga:  The Rose Bride, cooking? Touga:  You shouldn't do such things as cooking. Touga:  You should only take care of the roses here. Touga:  This birdcage is your territory. Touga:  And you are the beautiful little bird which lives here. Touga:  I want to possess this birdcage, and everything in it.

Touga:  Himemiya Anthy is the Bride of the victor of the Duel. Touga:  While she was engaged to you, the Code required her to obey you.

I Love You:

What am I supposed to do now? If you won’t tell me, I can’t be me

Mahiru is also probably the most traditionally feminine out of the entire female cast. With her priorities being love, romance, and having children.

(Mahiru Interrogation)

T2Q1: What's your opinion on Marriage? Mahiru: It's something I really dream of.

T2Q10: Do you like children? Mahiru: Yup. I always dreamed of having the older being a girl, and the younger being a boy.

Mahiru is willing to do Anything for love, even if it gets her hurt in the process. That's what she's Supposed to want, that's what is Supposed to bring her joy, that's what is Supposed to bring everyone joy. (Mahiru T1 VD)

Es: I honestly have no interest in those matters.  Mahiru: What? No, no. There’s no such thing as that. Being in love is like a landmine. It’ll explode someday, you know? The only thing that differs is whether it happens earlier or later in life. It’ll happen to you too. Even if you don’t have any interest in it now, one day it’ll explode for you as well. All because you’ll have that fateful encounter with your special someone.

Love is what Everyone Wants and if you say you Don't you just haven't found the right person.

Mahiru: Yeah, yeah. You’ll deny it at first. I mean, I was like that as well. Before then, I always admired soap operas and shoujo manga because I thought that they depicted a world different from our own. 

Voice:  Once upon a time... Voice:  ...there was a princess grieving over the deaths of her mother and father. Voice:  Before this princess appeared a prince traveling upon a white horse. Voice:  His appearance gallant, and his smile gentle, the prince enveloped the princess

The amatonormativity in Mahiru's worldview is clear. People are Supposed to fall in love and have the Normal Idealized Heterosexual Romance and there's Nothing Else Outside of That At All.

Mahiru: Yeah, yeah. You’ll deny it at first. I mean, I was like that as well.

Anthy:  But I've been engaged to you, Utena-sama. Utena:  I've told you to stop mentioning stuff like "engagement" and the "Rose Bride." Anthy:  Nevertheless... Utena:  Look, no matter how you look at me, I'm a regular wholesome girl. Utena:  I'm only interested in wholesome boys, not a bride or stuff like that.

And Mahiru does a lot to preserve a "marketable" quality to her actions and behavior. TIHTBILWY is formatted like a magazine, something that is sold and bought by consumers. Erasing the messiness of her relationship or even Romanticizing those qualities to seem appealing.

Giving you love to the point of pulling you down It's just because I still get worried, please forgive me Even when I test you, even the times we do the breakup ritual, Is because I love you

Voice:  but because of the strength of her admiration for the prince, Voice:  the princess made up her mind to become a prince herself! Voice:  But is that really good for her?

The story of the Prince in Utena is one that is a fabrication, it hides and excludes multiple Very Important parts of the story all in the favor of portraying the Ideal Fairytale Heterosexual Romance.

Unlike Utena who chooses to become a "Prince" (which is a concept I'll get into in a bit.) Mahiru is trying to make Herself the Rose Bride. She orientates her life around who she loves, she's willing to accept a lot of abuse for the sake of an Ideal Relationship, she even actively downplays her intelligence and strength! Something that is explored in detail by this post by archivalofsins you should check out.

Now that isn't to say Mahiru isn't a horrible partner. She is, and this is why. Mahiru is Expecting this sort of incredibly idealistic fairytale romance from her partner, an ideal that no person can possibly live up to without harming the people they care about and themselves!

Do you really think you know what love is? If you do, let's just overheat together The things that I only want to say to you, and the things that I want from you Is love

My emotions are out of control, that’s inconvenient? I don’t care!

You can't live up to this and you shouldn't want to! It's an unrealistic and unachievable ideal with a horrific power imbalance to boot! Yet Mahiru is Trying to conform to these ideals, trying to conform to the unrealistic expectations of women and relationships in society, and that's why she's here in the first place.

"He who believes friendship exists is a fool."

So these toxic and unhealthy ideals and expectations are at the core of Mahiru's character and her situation. But there ideals are perpetuated by an environment that promotes this sort of behavior, one that isn't unique to Mahiru's situation.

Muu Kusunoki is a 16 year old teenage girl who is both a victim of bullying and someone who bullies others for her own gain.

She also might of had a homoromantic relationship with her murder victim.

Let’s meet up inside the pain, a place just for me Postmortem makeup to hide my heart, how to solve it is a secret The stabbing of the little devil’s voice, counterattack being a suicide note “I love YOU”

I wonder who that reminds me of.

I'll get into Shiori in a second, but it's important to note that Muu introduces a concept that's present in Mahiru's story but is particularly present in Muu, the concept of the cycle.

Saionji:  No... I was to be the one to rescue her from the coffin this time. Saionji:  No! I am the one who will save her this time. The castle said to contain eternity... Saionji:  the power to revolutionize the world...

The concept of eternity and nostalgia in Utena tends to be depicted as a coffin, one you need to break out of to grow.

Touga:  If the egg's shell does not break, the chick will die without being born. Touga:  We are the chick; the egg is the world. Touga:  If the world's shell does not break, we will die without being born. Touga:  Break the world's shell! Touga-Juri:  For the sake of revolutionizing the world!

The duelists want the Rose Bride so that they can gain the power to revolutionize the world. Who she is does not Matter as much as what she can Give Them.

Now, this idea is particularly present in characters like Shidou and Kotoko who position themselves as saviors, not for the benefit of others but for what they Get out of that arrangement, thematically fitting the concept of the prince.

However, Muu is not the prince, she is not a savior. In fact she always positions herself as the victim, as someone pitiful and weak. (Crying B)

Muu: Hey… Prison guard, when you say “I”… Who are you talking about? Es: [breaking down]  Muu: Prison guard? Es: [stumbles]  Muu: Prison guard. What’s wrong? Prison guard! [shakes Es] Hey! Prison guard! Es: Shut up! Don’t touch me! Muu: [cries] You’re so cruel… I… Even though I was just worried about you… [cries again] I can’t take it anymore. I hate you, prison guard! 

Es pain and breakdown is caused by something Muu said, and yet when Es very sharply tells her not to touch them because their uncomfortable with it. Muu immediately starts crying and talking about how much They got hurt because of what they did, when Es is currently unresponsive due to what she did to them, albeit unintentionally.

Muu needs to to be the victim, After Pain shows all the bad things that happened to her and not Any of the bullying she participated in. It's Not My Fault is a whole song about how everything she did was right actually and that everyone else was wrong.

Now, Muu isn't a master manipulator or anything. She's an impulsive 16 year old. If Muu was a master manipulator she wouldn't be here, would she? She'd be still in school taking the honey up as she was before Rei did whatever she did.

Muu gains power by being pitiful and weak so she'll be loved, and by its' very nature it's self-destructive. She cannot be Happy because if she Was this wouldn't work anymore. She Must be in a worse situation, she must be the victim, or else no one would pity and love her.

I am innocent as everybody desires

Juri: You're just like Shiori... Juri: ...cruelly innocent.

Muu cycles from being "weak and pitiful" to being "queenly and powerful" and tends to hurt herself in the process. This attempt at grabbing power and love through pity Harms Muu, and she seems to even be drowning in a lot of self-hatred and self-pity, and is looking for external validation to confirm that she's "good."

But I guess some of it is my faultMaybe it’s ok as it is I want to feel “alive”, is it ok if I breathe?

Hey, what if If I am a bad girl Don’t hate me. Don’t even try to proof from “After Pain”

And, in an attempt to gain power and control, Muu traps herself in a coffin.

Shiori: This is me, the real me! Shiori: And not the underdog that was living a miserable life in the shadow of the bright shining Juri! Shiori: The real me that surpasses the light. Shiori: Yes, this is the me that controls Juri.

But, it isn't all her fault.

Again, Muu really was bullied, horribly so if were judging by her lyrics in After Pain and the sequences we see in it.

If I was gone, If I had just disappeared I overheard, I found out How much I’m not needed

T1Q4: Is there something you hate? Scary people and ghosts. And right now, school.

Muu isn't lying about this, and Rei isn't fully sympathetic either, she did Hurt Muu and Muu really did want to apologize to her.

T1Q9: Do you have apologetic feelings for who you killed? A: The person who did the wrong thing first should apologize.

Shiori: Juri-san was so kind to me. Shiori: But I thought she was kind to me because she looked down on me, Shiori: and that she had pity on me for being plain and useless. Shiori: That's pathetic! Shiori: So I wanted to change my relationship with Juri-san. Shiori: But what I did with him made me more miserable than before. Shiori: I should have wanted it for myself! Shiori: But now... Shiori: Now I'm on equal terms with her. No, I've won! Shiori: I always had a place in Juri-san's heart. Shiori: I'm the winner! Shiori: What shall I do? I'm so delighted to know my friend's secret I almost can't bear it! Shiori: She suffered alone, looking at my picture in secret... Shiori: That was Juri-san? Poor thing! Shiori: No good! It's still no good! Shiori: How could you look at me like that?!Shiori: Why did it all turn out this way?

The school as a whole is letting a horrible environment of bullying and toxicity be left to rot and fester. You Really Can't create a healthy friendship in a world like that, it just won't let you. If your not friends with someone because you gain something from them, you'll suffer.

Muu: Wow, poor thing,.. I’ll teach you! Friends aren’t like that, you know. Rather than using each other for something, we just get along because we’re comfortable around each other. That’s all. Es: Well, I’m sorry about that. Muu: Haruka-kun is really nice! He accepts anything I say, he listens to anything I tell him. For me, that’s really comfortable. Es: And that’s… “friendship”? Muu: What do you mean? Of course we’re friends! Haruka-kun is happy with it, so it only has benefits for both of us! Es: I, as someone who has no friends, can’t judge, of course, but isn’t that just exploitation? Muu: Exploitation…? Um, I don’t really understand, but… I do help him pick out clothes [in return], and I recently gave him a hairpin I didn’t need anymore as a hand-me-down!

Akio:  But sincerity by itself changes nothing. Akio:  Without power, one finds themself merely depending on others to live.

Jackalope describes this relationship as a "Master-Servant" relationship and it seems like this is the type of friendship Muu is familiar with. She's emulating how her friendships were in school, just with someone else as the servant and her as the master.

T1Q1: What is a friend? A: Someone who properly listens to what I say.

Now this doesn't completely absolve her obviously, what she did was still Very Bad and even though she Breaks the hourglass in her MVs. She doesn't really leave it.

Muu does not want to accept responsibility for her actions, she believes herself to be justified and in the right, even when she has Done Wrong.

This unwillingness to accept when something she did is wrong and the unhealthy environment of Milgram that assigns strict moral value to people's actions and has no nuance in its judgement...leads her back into the cycle she was trapped in.

“A girl who cannot become a princess is doomed to become a witch.”

Now we've tackled the gender roles and horribly toxic cycles and ideals, so, what happens when you Can't work within those confines, or even want to break out of them? Just, hypothetically, if you cannot become a princess (which is everyone because the ideal of a princess is so incredibly unrealistic that anyone who aspires to be it would destroy themselves in the process) or Don't want to be a princess, what happens?

Well.

You become something Other.

Something Evil and Unnatural.

Something that needs to be Punished and Harmed.

So, now, this is where I have to mention that Utena as a show deals with underage sexual abuse, I didn't mention this for the other sections since they were not as relevant to those discussions. However since this section deals with the abuse received by the Rose Bride it feels important to mention.

I will not be referring to it in the context of Amane's due to how we don't have information in the text pointing to Amane being a csa victim. This is for the sake of Tact, as it feels wrong to speculate about it here and I do not feel like I'm the right person to examine this.

It will, again, be mentioned and alluded to, so stay safe and do what's good for your health.

So, Amane Momose is repeatedly dehumanized throughout her story.

This is a consistent theme with her, she is treated as something subhuman and terrifying.

In Purge March, Amane is consistently depicted as scary, threatening, or otherwise evil.

There's even a section in her T2 VD where Amane calls herself "evil," though it is done in a roundabout way while she's talking about Shidou (who I will get to in a bit.)

A: Both pain and illness are trials. According to our teachings, those who run from them are the worst evil there is. That’s one of the four great principles. No matter who you are, that cannot be forgiven. E: What are you…? A: Oh – speaking of which, there is one among the prisoners right now. An evil existence that’s trying to steal people’s trials away from them.

Shadow:  The witch roams this world of darkness even now. Shadow:  Seeking the young and noble, to sacrifice them anew! Shadow:  Surely the light presents an obstacle to the witch, to her dominion over the dark. Shadow:  Beware! Beware! She is still somewhere in this world...

Not only that, but Amane is The Cat, a symbol constantly associated with sin and impurity throughout the MVs with Kazui and Yuno.

And is implied to have actually Been asked if she was human by her parents.

(Amane T1 VD)

Amane: Yes. It is only natural for a person(/human) to apologize to another for breaking a promise. Es: … Amane: Why are you looking so doubtful? Are you not human?

I promise! A good girl that keeps a promise is like, mwah!

Amane is not to be considered human, she's even collared and leashed in her Prisoner design, the medal and bow on her outfits in the MVs being another "collar" of sorts.

Amane Needs to be Restrained and Domesticated or else she'll bring harm to the people around her. She isn't good enough to be a "good girl" and seems to Know This.

Only if, only if, only if I could be a good girl

It's always "I can be a better girl" or "I can be a good girl" and not "I am a good girl," and the line above implies its impossible for her to be one. It's not something she can do.

When she gets punished by her parents its to make her a "better girl," and to "change" her into a "good girl." It is love, for they are not leaving her to die as an animal.

(Amane Interrogations)

T2Q9: What does love mean to you? A: To spread mercy with no limits.

But it’s not scary at all, because it’s love I can really think it’s great. See isn’t it a great thing?

Even though these punishments keep on Almost Killing Her!

It's what she needs to go through to be good! And even if she doesn't even believe its possibly anymore what else can she do? Run? Running away from trials is a sin! One of the worst there is! She can't allow herself to be more sullied than she already is.

Plus she knows this is love, she isn't scared anymore, it's childish to be scared of it.

Akio:  A child like you can't appreciate my ideals. Akio:  The Rose Bride exists because of ideals you don't comprehend.

Plus there's a sort of comfort in it, she knows what happens next. She idealizes Milgram somewhat in T1, believing that it's possible for this world, that resembles her abusive environment so much, could be Good.

Amane: Ah, I am looking forward to it! Seeing whether your judgement will align with that of these higher standards! If that is the case, maybe Milgram would be the right world for us to live in, rather than the outside world! Milgram relies on your judgement, isn’t that right? In that case, you could become the mediator for a far more righteous world!!

There's a comfort in Milgram's strict forgiven/unforgiven verdict system with a (theoretical) possibility of growth! And she later takes comfort in the same religious doctrine that Harmed her when Es does declare her as unforgiven.

If your so used to a situation, even if it harms you, why would you ever want to leave it? It's scarier if you leave it, you don't know what will happen next. At least at home, Amane knows what to do so she can get off a bit longer without getting hurt.

If you become a bad girl, monsters will come out This is the magic that stops that from happening

Akio:  Anthy, the sword. Akio:  That's right. You're a good girl, Anthy.

Amane's suffered for twelve or so years, an eternity trapped in a coffin. A cycle of abuse and pain and horror and fear. Why would she Ever want to leave it when what she's seen of the outside world is so horrible?

Amane: In fact, there have been people who said that to me. I’ve been told things like, “You’re being deceived.” “You can still make it right now.” “You’re crazy.”

People are always positioning themselves as stronger than her, people are always positioning themselves as smarter than her, people are always positioning themselves as Her Prince.

Shidou: I…… I just don’t understand. If everything about MILGRAM is true…… why did a child like you have to become a murderer? Just imagining what sort of circumstances must have led to that, it makes me so sad…… Amane: ……*sigh*. Is that right. I don’t think I’m going to get along with you, Shidou-san. I don’t agree with the fact you refuse to acknowledge that I have my own free will, and that I should be held accountable for my actions, just because I’m a child. I may have only been alive for 12 years, but all the choices I’ve made, even if they weren’t the best ones, were entirely my own. What point is there in you getting sad when I have no regrets myself? ……please give me back my test. It seems you don’t have the concentration levels required to be my teacher. I’m going to get Kotoko-san to teach me instead. Shidou: Amane…… I don’t think that’s true. However smart you may be…… you’re still just a child.

Utena:  Cut it out with that "Rose Bride" or "possession" nonsense. Utena:  That girl is an ordinary girl named Himemiya Anthy! Touga:  Is she? Touga:  Is it true that you're an ordinary girl? Utena:  You don't like it, do you? Utena:  Being the Rose Bride or whatever... Anthy:  I... Utena:  Go ahead, speak your mind! Anthy:  My mind... Utena:  Yeah! Utena:  You hate being treated as the Rose Bride, right? Utena:  Tell him clearly! Anthy:  All right. Anthy:  I hate being treated as the Rose Bride. Utena:  What's so funny?

Amane: You are treating me as a child after all. Because I’m a child, you believe that I must have been brainwashed. It’s not like that. I, too— children, too, understand everything! Please don’t just decide that people must be unhappy.

What she wants doesn't matter! When has it ever mattered? The people who say it does, don't like it when she acts in a manner they don't expect and her parents have made it Very Clear that what she does isn't important to them.

Any sort of happiness she could possibly get tends to come from things that are outside of her cult. And because of that, she isn't supposed to have them, and she is wrong for wanting them in the first place.

And yet...Amane cares so much about having free will and autonomy though, it's her main argument in her T1 VD and her biggest problem with her treatment.

Amane: I see. Then, are the things that I as a twelve-year-old think irrelevant? Are you going to cast aside the feelings that I know I have in this very moment, purely based on the fact that I have not yet lived for a very long time? Judging these things based on someone’s age will not take you very far. Do I, at age twelve, not have my own will?

That's the thing with Amane Momose, she doesn't want to be a "princess."

T2Q13: If you could be reborn, would you still choose to be yourself? A: Obviously.

She wants to stay as her, no matter what. In spite of all of this she doesn't want to be anything else But Her. Even if it gets her hurt.

Amane helped the cat because she wanted to, she saw it hurt and couldn't look away.

Utena:  Hey, save her! Utena:  It's too cruel! Utena:  Save her! Utena:  Save her...

And in the eyes of god, she was wrong for doing so.

Dios:  She can no longer be saved.

’Tis ordained, thou shall follow thine destiny

But again, Amane doesn't want to die.

T1Q12: What is the meaning of life? A: I think it is something you learn for the first time when you look behind yourself when it ends. I do not want to have regrets then, so I live on with all my might.

This was the tipping point of her, how much more is she willing to suffer? How much longer is she willing to stay here? Because she will die, it's not an if, its a when.

So, she decides, to break out of her coffin, and while it is partially due to how she was given a righteous reason to kill her mother. It is a crime that is mainly motivated by self-preservation and hatred.

Amane: Furthermore, isn’t it condescending of you to assume that just because I happen to be a child, I am incapable of hating someone enough to kill them?

Unfortunately for her, the audience isn't as willing to accept that.

I talk about it in more detail over here but we are Constantly positioned in the place of her abusers. From framing to her opinions on us, ever since we voted her guilty in T1 for the primary reason of "making her realize her mistakes." we mimic her parents.

Since she cannot become a princess, she becomes a witch, and is forced right back into that cycle she desperately tried to escape.

And Someday, Together, We'll Shine

So, that's a bit of a downer. But even so we have hope!

It's not exactly easy when the system built is so counter-productive to everyone's wellbeing and development that it often makes them worse instead of better.

But Amane has made a promise to live. Muu Does want to have genuine relationships with the people around her. And Mahiru has admitted her relationship wasn't as ideal as she initially thought.

And sometimes, you just need to see a possibility for something outside of all this to be able to get out of it.

Anthy:  What will you be doing in ten years? Utena:  I dunno. But... Anthy:  But? Utena:  But I hope we can be together like this drinking tea then. Anthy:  Yes. I hope so too. Utena:  I'm sure that'll be great. Utena:  Let's have tea and laugh together ten years from now, okay? Utena:  Promise? Anthy:  Yes. Definitely.

[64space]

been having some thoughts about the execution of revolutionary girl utena compared to the execution of wonder egg priority. lining those two shows up together is like comparing apples and oranges but they do share some similarities, but what i’m going to be rambling about under the cut are the differences between them based in my personal preferences. to preface this, i think utena is, objectively, a good and well written piece of media. i can count the amount of scenes i actually enjoyed from it on one hand, however. and wonder egg was fumbled terribly, but its concepts had astounding potential if it just had more episodes to execute them and conclude them in a satisfactory way.

the reason why i procrastinated on watching utena for years wasn’t because of the list of trigger warnings (i have very specific triggers that, surprisingly, weren’t ticked off by any in the warnings), but rather because of the art style and aesthetic choices. for a ‘90s anime, it felt a lot more like ‘80s cartoons on my mom’s VHS, and that vibe alone was an equal blend of secondhand nostalgia and downright unsettling. but what bothered me more than the art style was the aesthetic choices right down to the school uniforms and the design of the school itself. to set the backdrop for the relationship between a girl prince and a witch, there are obviously some fantasy elements to the world, but i just... did not enjoy it. everyone meshes in with the world perfectly except for utena herself, who feels like a girl from the real world who was isekai’d into a fantasy world at a very young age and now has a maladaptive optimistic hero personality to cope with her trauma. the characters feel like characters more than people, and while their traumas are plausible and real, everything is portrayed so allegorically that it imbalances my attachment to them as people because their personalities are so exaggerated and fairytale-like. no one talks like that. no one acts like that. no one dresses like that. with all the development that went into the school as a metaphor for abusive systems in itself, and the fantasy-like atmosphere in a high school setting, it felt... empty, like a treasure box decorated with a clear and concise design that i can admire the artistic merits of, but the actual contents of the box are full of fake flowers being eaten by plastic worms. for me, representative/allegorical concepts are only digestible when they’re balanced with the characters’ peoplehood and development as people instead of solely as characters and narrative devices. revolutionary girl utena did not balance that.

one similarity between revolutionary girl utena and wonder egg priority is that both stories mainly follow a 14 year old girl who is socially ostracized because of one specific trait (utena herself being gender-nonconforming, and ai’s reason being said as her different colored eyes, but everyone who watched wonder egg priority knows that her relationship with koito was coded as a trial romance between two girls.) wonder egg showcases the characters as 14 perfectly, while, again, revolutionary girl utena barely does that. bring in the thermian argument here and say “well, fourteen year olds say pretentious stuff and believe it to be true,” and apply that to utena. but then look at the conversations in wonder egg priority. even with their downright absurd circumstances (particularly neiru and kotobuki’s), their pretentiousness has basis in reality, and is contextualized in explicit ostracism from that reality while still having the desire to partake in, or acknowledge and reject it.

wonder egg priority acknowledges 14 year old girls as teenagers, a developmental age between children and adults. the way this is expressed allegorically is through frill, who is LITERALLY the manifestation of what two adult men think a 14 year old girl should be, based on data and expectations. the four protagonists, however, deal with themselves how mentally ill 14 year old girls would do so, realistically to their circumstances. by helping others, it distracts them from their own problems or it leads them down the line of resolve. both shows acknowledge that in order for trauma to really get better, it’ll look a lot worse when the issues are actually confronted instead of repressed before it ever gets better. though, while trauma traps people in different ages than they really are, utena’s narrative doesn’t allow them to experience these traumas as 14 year olds outside of the context that their trauma is pedophilia and that they go to school. in terms of character development and execution, they are portrayed with similar degrees of agency as any adult fantasy character. this is where the allegorical execution loses its significance, while also being a genius narrative device. we are meant to see the characters as adults before it settles in with the uncomfortable realization that they are young teenagers. (still doesn’t help that the way characters are drawn in RGU doesn’t have them look their age, but oh well.) wonder egg delves into realistic traumas with exaggerated representations, which is more accurate to how a 14 year old girl would experience their own trauma and the trauma of those around them. the wonder egg girls put themselves through too many responsibilities for their age, and while they may see themselves as more capable than they are, the audience sees them as their messy selves, away from any polished, fairytale narrative until around the episode where ai confronts her parallel self. my main problem with that was the way the latter half of the show was rushed, so anything weird and unexplained and overly allegorical could be easily resolved with an extended run time of the show and a balance of character/world development and characters being people.

from a narrative perspective, revolutionary girl utena did what it intended to do. it was wrapped up perfectly for the kind of story it followed, and the pacing was long enough to cover what was important in all subplots while also miserably dragging on to the point where that drag was immersive to the misery of the characters it followed. wonder egg priority was rushed, fumbled, and a season longer than 12 episodes was unsupported by the budget. my opinion on these two shows mostly boils down to personal preference. while i did enjoy wonder egg priority far more than i enjoyed revolutionary girl utena, the latter had far more time and thought put into its execution that its artistic merit cannot be ignored, and i acknowledge it as one of the best written stories i’ve ever seen. the development of characters as people felt really lacking, though.

[sarahsfixations]

Anime and meee

For a while I had a fair bit of insecurity and weirdly anxiety (???) over watching like fictional stuff idek. So I don't really watch movies or shows but anime has proved an effective pathway for me mainly because its more involved but also animated, and also has subtitles I can read along with (my verbal processing unit is... not the greatest) So I've been able to watch more anime now with not as much 'anxious pause' and 'apprehension' to starting up again although I've only seen 46. My myanimelist: https://myanimelist.net/profile/SimmyS My anilist: https://anilist.co/user/SimmyS/animelist This is roughly what my 3x3 probably looks like. The ordering is supposed to be left to right, top to bottom I feel this could change over time in not too long (because I've been having great fun with stuff like Cardcaptor Sakura)

A brief comment on each one and why I like it

Steins;Gate: It's been a while since I've watched, although I plan on a rewatch. For me it has to be the best because it simply stands apart: theres no hidden 'anime rules', it transcends that. It builds a world and everything that follows is both very interesting and yet a natural consequence of it, both surprising and well justified. The atmosphere is very particular and it helps make the world well deeper, like something the characters are in and are affected by. And it has the defining aesthetic, this like mix of science and delusion, this investigative approach to time travel. It just does everything in a different way but extremely solid. For that reason, it must stand out.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: I'm not sure strictly speaking I can say it this high enough. I find some of the animation and phrases repetitive and a bit in 'I'll learn to like more' zone. But the dynamics feel different to other anime and the ideas were very interesting, even if I feel I understood 30%. To me it must have this honor because its the second one I've really thought to analyze.

Madoka Magica: This one is one that I feel I forget particulars on how good it is but I remember really adoring. Like its cover does not convey its highly unique style. This one to me is significant because of one, the more emotionally complex roles magical girls are given. And for me personally, it has had some of the more impactful life messages in context of its plot.

Hunter x Hunter: What makes this one good is the sense of style, world building, and writing. They understand Gon's motive is naiv and the world almost fits to match this reaching to the heaven feel. It's hard to describe but it makes all 'anime fighting tropes' actually work in a very solid and interesting manner.

No Game No Life: This one just has the most definitively cool victorious style and music. It has the best 'reveal' moments of any anime. Sora and Shiro aren't mind gaming for their pride but doing it because they like doing it. And they reflect on it towards their personal values towards humanity that I love.

Code Geass: This is the one I binged through the quickest. There's lots of interesting political dynamics that feels in proper coverage on the whole, that leave things in an interesting grey and characters reactions to it all is for the most part reasonable. A part of me has worried on a few contrived plot armor points, might need a rewatch.

Konosuba: Lots of comedy anime are just bad but this one, despite being on the 'trashier' side of things, I actually feel is very well written and utilizing the cast of characters effectively and in varied ways that always make me laugh out loud. Everyone is exaggerated but the exaggerations make contextual sense given their character, and its enjoyable seeing how those interact.

Re:Zero: It's honestly been a long time since I've thought about this one but I just love how they go through this loop and add different angles to the story, and the despair conveyed is excellent. For some reason though the style doesn't resonate with me as much, it feels too notably like 'an adaptation'.

Serial Experiments Lain: This is a bit of a throw in as I don't think I have particular attachment to it but it stuck out to me at least because of its ideas and some of the mind fuck going on there with whats real and whats not. Some take that to be analogous and predictive of modern internet but I didn't take it so deeply as I like to focus more on the exacts of its theory and world building. But, its still pretty cool.

[balioc]

A Taxonomy of Magic

This is a purely and relentlessly thematic/Doylist set of categories. 

The question is: What is the magic for, in this universe that was created to have magic?

Or, even better: What is nature of the fantasy that’s on display here?

Because it is, literally, fantasy.  It’s pretty much always someone’s secret desire.

(NOTE: “Magic” here is being used to mean “usually actual magic that is coded as such, but also, like, psionics and superhero powers and other kinds of Weird Unnatural Stuff that has been embedded in a fictional world.”)

(NOTE: These categories often commingle and intersect.  I am definitely not claiming that the boundaries between them are rigid.)

I. Magic as The Gun That Can Be Wielded Only By Nerds

Notable example: Dungeons & Dragons

Of all the magic-fantasies on offer, I think of this one as being the clearest and most distinctive.  It’s a power fantasy, in a very direct sense.  Specifically, it’s the fantasy that certain mental abilities or personality traits -- especially “raw intelligence” -- can translate directly into concrete power.  Being magical gives you the wherewithal to hold your own in base-level interpersonal dominance struggles. 

(D&D wizardry is “as a science nerd, I can use my brainpower to blast you in the face with lightning.”  Similarly, sorcery is “as a colorful weirdo, I can use my force of personality to blast you in the face with lightning,” and warlockry is “as a goth/emo kid, I can use my raw power of alienation to blast you in the face with lightning.”)   

You see this a lot in media centered on fighting, unsurprisingly, and it tends to focus on the combative applications and the pure destructive/coercive force of magic (even if magic is notionally capable of doing lots of different things).   It often presents magic specifically as a parallel alternative to brawn-based fighting power.  There’s often an unconscious/reflexive trope that the heights of magic look like “blowing things up real good” / “wizarding war.” 

II. Magic as The Numinous Hidden Glory of the World

Notable examples: Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, H.P. Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle

The point of magic, in this formulation, is that it is special.  It is intrinsically wondrous and marvelous.  Interacting with it puts you in a heightened-state-of-existence.  It is -- ultimately -- a metaphor for The Secret Unnameable Yearnings of Your Soul, the glorious jouissance that always seems just out of reach.

It doesn’t so much matter how the magic actually functions, or even what outcomes it produces.  The important thing is what magic is, which is...magical.

This is how you get works that are all about magic but seem entirely disinterested in questions like “what can you achieve with magic?,” “how does the presence of magic change the world?,” etc.  One of the major ways, anyway.

The Numinous Hidden Glory fantasy often revolves around an idea of the magic world, the other-place where everything is drenched in jouissance.  [Sometimes the magic world is another plane of existence, sometimes it’s a hidden society within the “real world,” doesn’t matter.]  The real point of magic, as it’s often presented, is being in that magic world; once you’re there, everything is awesome, even if the actual things you’re seeing and doing are ordinary-seeming or silly.  A magic school is worlds better than a regular school, because it’s magic, even if it’s got exactly the same tedium of classes and social drama that you know from the real world. 

Fantasies of this kind often feature a lot of lush memorable detail that doesn’t particularly cohere in any way.  It all just adds to the magic-ness. 

III. Magic as the Atavistic Anti-Civilizational Power

Notable examples: A Song of Ice and Fire, Godzilla

According to the terms of this fantasy, the point of magic is that it doesn’t make sense.  It doesn’t make sense within the logic of civilized human thought, anyway.  It is nature and chaos given concrete form; it is the thing that tears away at the systems that we, in our [Promethean nobility / overweening hubris], try to build. 

There’s not a baked-in value judgment here.  This kind of magic can be presented as good, bad, or some of both.  Same with civilization, for that matter.

It’s often presented as Old Myths and Folkways that have More Truth and Power Than Seems Reasonable.  Narratively, it often serves as a dramatized version of the failure of episteme, and of the kind of entropic decay that in real life can take centuries to devour empires and ideologies.

This kind of magic is almost always the province of savages, actual inhuman monsters, or (occasionally) the very downtrodden. 

(I think it is enormously telling that in A Song of Ice and Fire -- a series that is jammed full of exotic cults and ancient half-forgotten peoples, all of whom have magic that seems to work and beliefs that at least touch on mysterious truths -- only the Westerosi version of High Medieval Catholicism, the religion to which most of the people we see notionally adhere, is actually just a pack of empty lies.)  

IV. Magic as an Overstuffed Toybox

Notable examples: Naruto, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Or, sometimes, we care about what magic actually does.  More than that -- sometimes we want to see magic doing really interesting things, and then other magic intersecting with it in ways that are even more interesting.

The fantasy here, in simplest terms, is “magic can achieve any arbitrary cool effect.”  There doesn’t tend to be an overarching system that explains how it’s all supposed to come together, or if there is, it tends to be kind of lame and hand-wavey -- a rigorous system of Magic Physics, delineating the limits of the possible, would get in the way of all the cool effects we want to show!

Once again, this shows up a lot in combat-heavy narratives.  Less with the genericized D&D-style “magic is a fist that can punch harder than your regular meat fist,” and more with people throwing weird and wacky powers at each other in order to show how those powers can be used creatively to overcome opposition.  Sometimes, instead of combat, you get magicians using their cool-effects magic to MacGuyver their way out of problems or even trying to resolve large-scale social problems.  Issues of magic usage within the narrative being “fair” or “unfair” or “cheesy” are important here in ways that they generally aren’t elsewhere, since the fantasy on offer comes close to being a game. 

(Ratfic often falls into this category.) 

V. Magic as Alternate-Universe Science

Notable examples: the Cosmere books

This covers most of what gets called “hard fantasy.”  The fantasy on offer is a pretty straightforward one -- “magic has actual rules, you can learn them, and once you’ve learned them you can make predictions and achieve outcomes.”  It’s puzzle-y in the way that the previous fantasy was game-y.  It’s often a superstimulus for the feeling of learning a system in the way that video game grinding is a superstimulus for the feeling of rewarding labor. 

The magic effects on offer tend to be less ridiculous and “broken” than toybox magic, because any logic you can use to achieve a ridiculous effect is going to influence the rest of the magic system, and special cases that aren’t grounded in sufficiently-compelling logic will ruin the fantasy. 

Not super common.

VI.  Magic as Psychology-Made-Real

Notable examples: Revolutionary Girl Utena, Persona

This kind of magic makes explicit, and diagetic, what is implicit and metatextual in most fantasy settings.  The magic is an outgrowth of thought, emotion, and belief.  Things have power in the world because they have power in your head.  The things that seem real in the deepest darkest parts of your mind are actually real. 

This is where you get inner demons manifested as actual demons (servile or hostile or anything in between), swords forged from literal hope, dungeons and labyrinths custom-tailored to reflect someone’s trauma, etc. 

The fantasy, of course, is that your inner drama matters. 

My personal favorite.

VII.  Magic as Pure Window Dressing

Notable examples: later Final Fantasy games, Warhammer 40K

This one is weird; it doesn’t really make sense on its own, only metatextually.  I think of its prevalence as an indicator of the extent to which fantasy has become a cultural staple. 

The fantasy on offer in these works is that you are in a fantasy world that is filled with fantasy tropes.  And that’s it.

Because the important thing here is that the magic doesn’t really do anything at all, or at least, it doesn’t do anything that non-magic can’t do equally well.  It doesn’t even serve as an indication that Things are Special, because as presented in-setting, magic isn’t Special.  Being a wizard is just a job, like being a baker or a tailor or something -- or, usually, like being a soldier, because the magic on offer is usually a very-simple kind of combat magic.  And unlike in D&D, it’s not like magic is used only or chiefly by a particularly noteworthy kind of person.  It’s just...there. 

The great stories of the world, in these works, don’t tend to feature magic as anything more than a minor element.  The point is to reassure the audience that this is the kind of world, the kind of story, that has magic. 

-------------------------------------------------

Thoughts?  Critiques?  Other categories to suggest? 

[fellhellion]

Top 5 ships!

oooo this is hard. what im enjoying rn in no particular order tho!

Utena and Anthy. Literally the day i stop thinking about their relationship, about the profound way the changed one another's lives is the day i'm dead literally that story changed my life and they're unironically two of the most important characters i've ever had the joy of experiencing

Goro and Akira. Literally every trope they hit just appeals to me, it's just so much fun and the romance coding of royal is just the cherry on the top.

Duck and Fakir from Ptutu. God that fucking story makes me cry my eyes out it's so fucking god i love them so much

Dimitri and Felix. I love it for different reasons to Dimitri/Byleth but godddd the angst is so good on this one. I have very specific desires in fan content of it but man. it's just a lot of fun heartbreak.

It's not like. a "ship" in the traditional sense. but i love whatever batshit antics Tom and Shiv Succ are going through. Failmarriage that makes me laugh and my heart ache :(

[afterspark-podcast]

G1 Episode 26: Transcript

Episode Show Notes

[This can also be found on AO3!]

S: It's a Megaman rock opera and a Megaman rock opera prequel.

[ Intro Music]

O: Hello! And welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, an episode by episode recap of the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls!

S: And I'm Specs! 

O: And today we're gonna be talking about episode number 26: Attack of the Autobots. Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Sure.

O: Today we open at the Ark, with the Autobots preparing something when the Decepticons attack. Prowl has a confrontation with Laserbeak.

S: Buy Prowl now, kids! He comes with a rad grappling hook accessory. You know you want it. 

O: Tubular! [Laughter] Thundercracker and Skywarp shoot at Optimus and he tries to save Ratchet bridal style but the explosion throws them both face-first onto the ground.

S: No one’s having a good day here.

O: No one is having a good day here. 

S: Rumble then, like, does his thing and sends Optimus and Ratchet into a crevice.

O: Elsewhere, Megatron and Starscream prepare to storm the Ark by spraying each other with invisibility spray.

S: Alright! Stuff that they'll never do anything with ever again. Does no one ever think of using these things, like, seriously? Do they ever think this stuff through? 

O: We both know they don't. Soundwave is the only one capable of planning ahead and no one listens to him enough, obviously. 

S: I guess, and then these two. They just walk smack-dab into the Ark. 

O: The Autobots don't have any sort of scanning crap for their front door based on weight, heat signatures, something?

S: I mean, I thought they had a camera when Nightbird turns up or something. They had a camera at some point, but it looks like they just got rid of their anti-ninja floor which would have maybe helped here?

O: Possibly, but then Megatron and Starscream enter the main Teletraan-1 room and press a button, revealing two beds or recharging chambers, rather. 

S: Oh, what does this tell us about the Autobots? Rather too much, I think.

O: [Laughter] 

S: Megs tells Starscream to hand him the personality disrupter-

O: Oh god.

S: And then he just, like, plops the thing into the machine.

O: We’re in the Teletraan-1 room, right? Like this- this is really the plan we're going with instead of blowing it up or something?

S: Or sabotage? 

O: Sabotage, yeah! I mean, I guess this is sabotage of a kind, but- but, boy in a roundabout way. 

S: Everyone just wants to fuck with each other's heads, we already know that. 

O: I guess. We were talking about Megatron and Starscream. It's like their MMO or their IMO- modus operandi.

S: Yes. And then these two just, you know, trot off outside and then take off. Megatron is laughing maniacally about the Autobots experiencing a “transformation” they won't expect the next time they go to sleep.

O: What is he, Freddy Krueger, now?

S: I guess?

O: [Laughter] The crossover no one asked for.

S: Well, someone might have asked for it.

O: Eh…

S: I don’t know. Back with Rumble, he's kneeling at the edge of the crevasse he created earlier wondering why he didn't hear Ratchet and Optimus hit the bottom.

O: Optimus and Ratchet come out magically flying and say, “Because we'd rather hit you!”

S: Okay.

O: It's so dumb, I can't I hate it. 

S: Unfortunately, the mental image that I have of this because I don't actually remember what happens is that they’re doing side hugs as they fly out-

O: [Laughter] No, I think they both come out punching or something but I don’t remember.

S: Yes but what I’m seeing is like a side hug with punching.

O: Oh my god. [muffled laughter]  

S: I’m sorry, it’s been so long.

O: It really has been awhile since we watched this.

S: And so, um, Megatron orders a retreat and the Decepticons follow suit. 

O: I love that Laserbeak gets away from Prowl in like five seconds flat despite being caught by Prowl’s grapple hook thing. It really makes it seem like he was just toying with Prowl the whole time. He probably was, cuz Laserbeak is actually intelligent. 

S: Yeah and distracting Prowl, or the guy who might wonder why the hell they did this seems like a smart thing to do.

O: Well, or the person who's going, “Golly, where’s Starscream and Megatron?” 

S: Yeah.

O: So, yeah, go- pretty good planning, there.

S: For someone, which was probably Soundwave.

O: Or Laserbeak. I would, I think either one would be capable of this.

S: Yeah. Brawn yells that, “Soundwave didn't finish his nickel-plated knuckle sandwich,” as Soundwave flies off. 

O: Say it with me kids, “Fuck Brawn.” [Laughter] Ratchet tries to chase Rumble but Rumble turns into a tape to escape his grasp. So he falls to the ground and then he turns back into a robot when Ratchet tries to pick him up off the ground and then he flies off, turning back into a tape and hopping into Soundwave’s chest. 

S: And the good chunk of this is happening while Ratchet is knelt on the ground trying to pick him up in tape mode.

O: Which is just a wonderfully ridiculous sentence. Anyway, the Autobots watch the Cons fly away as the moon chills in the background.

S: And this, it honestly just looks like a magical girl anime shot for some reason. 

O: Okay, I'm just like, how do you turn, like, the Transformers theme into a magical girl theme and and, uh, has that been done?

S: At this point, all that's coming to mind is, like, crossing the Transformers theme and the Sailor Moon theme.

O: I feel like Sailor Moon’s not a good fit. There's got to be a better- a better magical girl theme that's a little bit more action oriented, because you've heard- you've heard Sailor Moon, it's a love song.

S: Yeah, but the thing is I don't really watch a lot of magical girl anime, so I have a limited amount of experience.

O: Touche. I feel like Utena- crossing it with Utena would actually work better. Utena’s weird as balls, guys.

S: Yes, but I haven’t seen that yet.

O: I need to lend it to you, because it’s weird. It's, like, my kind of weird. [Laughter] Anyway, Ratchet comments that, “It's kind of weird that Megatron ran off so quickly,” but Prowl thinks that perhaps they were so quick to respond they were able to make their goal impossible to achieve.

S: Unfortunately, Prowl, you are extremely wrong here. You're so very very wrong, you're on a different continent. 

O: [Laughter]

S: You're on a different planet. You're ice cold, buddy. 

O: [Laughter] You can go south, you're, like, in the North Pole. 

S: But Optimus just looks very squintily into the camera and says that, “Megatron always has a method to his madness.” 

O: HE DOES!?!

S: Yes! 

O: I think it depends on the day and the writer. Is he a moron or a genius?  The world may never know!

S: How much crack is involved.

O: Also true. The next day we see the Autobots using the recharge chambers.

S: Oh, and our first victims are Ratchet and Optimus. And this honestly makes me think of- okay so the positioning of- [groans] 

O: Okay, with how the beds are positioned, it looks very, very similar to- to the 50 sitcoms like, you know, the ones. Like, uh,I Love Lucy, uh, Flintstones is not a good example because they did sleep in the same bed. Just, 50’s sitcoms, yes?

S: Yeah, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, probably. Um. So basically because of, you know, morality codes or something they couldn't show couples sharing beds because- sex. You couldn't imply sex.

O: Basically, despite if they have children. I just can't get over that these are the ONLY two beds on the entire Ark. 

S: It’s share and share alike here, I guess. All the minibots pile in. I don't know. 

O: “Ah, nothing like a good recharge to give the old bolts some volts.” 

S: Some pep in your step!

O: I really hope that's what they meant.

S: I don't want to debate the robot physiology HERE, okay.

O: Not here, not now, uh-huh. The stars! The stars are not aligned! 

S: [Sighs] Optimus tells everybody to recharge after he hops out because they got some shit to do, man.

O: Teletraan-1 informs the Autobots of a rocket launch and Optimus orders everyone to the air force base because the Decepticons will obviously be trying to steal it.

S: [Sighs] It’s the only air force base in the continental United States, obviously. It's the only thing the Decepticons can pay any attention to.

O: Apparently, but this is not before his eyes turn red and he starts to sound real evil, though.

S: Yeah, everyone else appears to be bitten by the evil bug, too, as their eyes also start glowing.

O: We have confirmation that Optimus, Skyfire, Prowl, Bluestreak, Brawn, and Hound have been affected. Teletraan can apparently sense evil now as it blasts out about an evil presence being di-tected- di-tected? Detected!

S: Honestly, why couldn't Teletraan-1 tell there were evil presences there earlier with Megatron and Starscream, or any of the other damn times the base has been infiltrated because-

O: [Whispering] Who the fuck knows? Who the fuck knows? [Normally] Megatron appears to be talking to Teletraan-1 directly now and he kind of begins to monologue to it-

S: How the hell is he aware of any of this?

O: The personality thing had a camera/communication device on it or something?

S: Well, I mean, I guess Laserbeak could have planted cameras.

O: He's a good birb.

S: Yeah, either that or maybe he's there, considering that in the movie we see him, like, filming stuff.

O: That's also true, but we don't see him in there at least as far as the cartoon was concerned. 

S: That's true, I mean, the Decepticons didn't even see what he was filming until after he turned up, went into Soundwave, and Soundwave showed them or... 

O: True. However, for that matter, why the hell didn't they just send Ravage for all this? He- he can turn invisible! 

S: He was off doing something else? 

O: Getting a college degree? In what?

S: He's taking a course in oil painting.

O: I hate you, and I hate that this the obvious answer here (is because of you): he's getting a degree in Russian!

S: Because he's always a-rushing.

O: [Groans loudly] It's the only excuse I have for Beast Wars. It’s definitely your fault, though!

S: [Laughter] The camera pans out as Megatron blabs some more. Additional bot’s that are infected are: Ratchet, Sideswipe, and Trailbreaker. So we did cover it. 

O: We did cover it. Megatron orders the Autobots to silence Teletraan and Optimus just punches the fuck out of it. 

S: I guess that's one way to handle that, you can't turn it off. But, I mean, well maybe you can turn it off. But I mean, someone's gonna be real unhappy about that, later. 

O: Possibly. Whoever the poor sod is that's gonna have to fix it. 

S: Also, Optimus is probably gonna feel like a bit of a heel.

O: I imagine. Outside we see Bumblebee and Jazz returning back to base with Spike and Sparkplug. 

S: Sparkplug was feeling very, very posh today so they took the Porsche. 

O: Apparently, they've been updating Jazz's sound system.

S: I find it really funny that the humans have a better quality sound system than the giant robots.

O: Well, I mean, if high quality sound wasn't something they needed or wanted during war than it may make kind of a certain amount of sense.

S: That is a good point about, like, resource management. 

O: I mean like, it wouldn't be highly on the list of priorities. Can we hear what they're saying? Yes? It's good enough.

S:  Yeah, granted I don't know- Decepticons are the only ones who seem to use bugs or anything.

O: Also true. Otherwise it’s Bumblebee overheard it. [Laughter]

S: Yeah. Bumblebee overheard it or, possibly, Hound getting weird radio transmissions ‘cause I think that happened too.

O: Oh right, right when, uh, he jacked into Megatron's head.

S: Yeah. 

O: He didn’t, but that’s really what it looks like. 

S: It really is. He had a stupid little radar dish.

O: Pretty much.

S: Yeah, so Jazz stops and they proceed to test out those new speakers but Bumblebee’s just like, “I’m- I'm done, I'm going back to base.”

O: I love that Sparkplug complains about the volume as Bee’s driving off, too. Like, Sparkplug, like, you could have gone with Bee. [Laughter]

S: Yeah. 

O: Uh, but Bee arrives back to base and somehow initially misses the giant hole punched into Teletraan-1.

S: He rolled a one on this passive perception.

O: And that’s a whiff! [Laughter]

S: He got distracted by something else.

O: [Laughter] Bluestreak?

S: Maybe. Because Bluestreak’s being all creepy here and trying to drag Bee back to bed.

O: I love that Bee’s reaction to this uh, because Bluestreak picks him up. He's like, “No, wait-” But he doesn't sound afraid, he just sounds confused.

S: Now’s not the time Bluestreak and I mean, this just makes me wonder whether, like, the other Autobots just like, occasionally pick up the minibots?

O: Yeah. Like, do they- do they carry them? Are they like, “We need a nightcap and someone to hug.” Bumblebee is very huggable, obviously! 

S: I don't think Brawn would be especially-

O: No-

S: Brawn- or Huffer or Gears.

O: No,no, Brawn is going to sit in the robot playpen, for being mean to Perceptor. 

S: Yeah, I don't think Brawn, Huffer, or Gears would be especially, uh, popular with that but who knows?

O: Huffer would just whine all night. He would not be fun. But Bee is very popular as a cuddle buddy. A cuddle bug if you will.

S: Yeeeeeaaaaaaah!

O: Yeeeeeaaaaaaah! [Laughter]

S: [Sighs] Jazz manages to get some rock and roll with real rocks with his new speakers.

O: Which Sparkplug calls an avalanche but wouldn't this be a rock slide?

S: I don't know, maybe he's got different parlance, but I think it would just be a rock slide. Who knows. Jazz and the two humans head back to base, arriving just as Bluestreak shoves Bee into one of the infected recharge chambers. 

O: Bluestreak fires on Jazz but Jazz beans him in the crotch by throwing something. 

S: What did he throw? Who knows. Do they need it later? Also, who knows. Bee seems fine, I guess? I guess the chamber didn't turn on or wasn't on that long enough but-

O: He's fine, he's not evil. Eh.

S: And Sparkplug is able to fix Teletraan-1, so I guess he's the one who regrets everything.

O: [Laughter] I hope he gives Optimus a good talking to later.

S: Yeah, and Teletraan-1 then displays a video of Megatron shoving the thing in the thing, so I guess Teletraan-1 knew? 

O You couldn’t have said something sooner? You had all night, Teletraan. Really?

S: Teletraan-1 has just the shittiest priority's, I guess.

O: Apparently, Sparkplug asks how many other Autobots are infected and Teletraan-1 just says, “All of them.” 

S: Those beds got an awful lot of use and Teletraan-1 has no excuses-

O: No-

S: For not telling anyone. 

O: No, none excuses. 

S: The Autobots crash through into- through into the air base.

O: Welcome to this 30 second interlude. Now back to Spike and Co. 

S: Teletraan-1 warns them about the attack on the base and Bee and Spike drive off. 

O: Ratchet and Hound are in the front of some building, under orders to retrieve the plans for the solar satellite. Inside we see a female scientist chatting on the phone. 

S: She's literally the best human in this episode, and I have a question. Is this the first we’ve ever heard of the solar satellite or it's-

O: I think they might- I can't remember. I think they said it earlier in the episode when um, when teletraan one was like, “A solar satellite is going to be launched-” 

S Oh, yeah, it’s to do with a launch or whatever. 

O: Yeah because that's what they're launching.

S: Alright.

O: So I think Teletraan-1 might have mentioned it earlier when the Autobots were like, “Oh, we have to go there and protect it from Decepticons!” and then, “Oh no, we're actually evil right now.”

S: Okay, okay.

O: But she is definitely the best human in this episode.

S: She's alerted to the two Autobots attacking and then grabs the blueprints for satellite and books it. Meanwhile we cut to, um, evil Ratchet and Hound stooped over, stalking through the halls.

O: I love that, even, evil they aren’t just destroying everything, right now. 

S: Even evil, Ratchet’s got a delicate touch.

O: Not too delicate, and he does smash through the wall slash door to get to the scientist. 

S: I guess you do what you’ve got to do when you're-

O: Evil?

S: Evil or mind controlled or whatever. So the lady scientist, who’s name is Dr. Harding, breaks a window and then jumps out, cushioning her fall with a convenient table umbrella and then hoofing it off into the distance.

O: Cue scenes of destruction, as the Autobots are just breaking all of the shit back at the Air Force Base. 

S: They have Optimus smashing things and shouting, “Destroy, destroy, destroy!” 

O: Bee and Spike arrive on scene with Bumblebee trying to talk some sense into Prime but he gets punched in the face. He says, “Prime, it’s Bumblebee, I'm one of you're-”

S: I’m one of your whats?

O: What am I, anyway? Am I your son? Is that how this works?

S: Eh, who knows? Megs busts uh, into Mission Control like he's the freaking Kool-Aid man, you know, again, threatening a scientist who tries to stop the launch.

O: Then he destroys a bunch of computers and tells Soundwave to hack the main computer which looks suspiciously like the bank of computers he just had destroyed.

S: They wanted to- they wanted to save some money. Got to reuse that stuff. Soundwave’s just got this itty-bitty little Jack in his finger that lets him jack into the computer immediately and, honestly, I'm kind of entertained that somehow... the robots are compatible with human computer systems. 

O: I mean, I wouldn't put it beyond Soundwave to have like purposely thought that far ahead-

S: Yeah-

O: Either but- but, yeah.

S: Going backwards compatible for something as primitive as a human computer-

O: In the 80’s.

S: -in the 80s.

O: Yeah.

S: Verses, they're giant robots from outer space.

O: I mean, when we could make the argument about their tech isn't super as advanced as you'd think considering maybe they've been stopped since the start of war but ehh?

S: Maybe, it's just they're like 4 million years old, at least. Who knows what tech they had and also they're obviously a hell of a lot more-

O: Tech savvy than- than humans, yes.

S: They should be. Umm, and then afterwards he espouses about how “The launch can't be stopped now and in two Earth hours they'll be on the rocket, on their way to Cybertron.” 

O: So let me get this straight. You went into Mission Control, blasted a bunch of stuff that apparently didn't matter, then had Soundwave reprogram the thing so it'll go to Cybertron. Do they even have enough fuel for that? Do they know?

S: That's really what I was wondering too, or is there even going to be enough room for all of them on that considering that, you know, that sort of thing. It's like a rocket but most of that is just to convey this satellite into the upper atmosphere and then it just stays there.

O: I don’t even know if this is supposed to be manned. Like, if they were just launching a satellite I don't even know if there should have been room for people, period. 

S: There shouldn't have been any sort of room there. Whatever room there might be is supposed to be, like, fuel tanks or rocket engines.

O: But, but yeah! A lot the rocket gets dropped off in pieces during liftoff. Do they know that?

S: I think they just don't give a shit. I don't know, they don't give a frag, cuz they're robots. I mean, I assume that they scope this stuff out but I don't know.

O:  If Soundwave or the cassettes did recon they're gonna be fine. Seeker’s did it, they’re all going to die.

S: Yeah.

O: That- that's my take on it. 

S: Back at the Ark, Sparkplug says a bunch of gobbledygook about a thing he made to revert the Autobots back to normal.

O: I call bullshit, sir. But we all know it's gonna work because that's how this show works, so carry on. Uh, Jazz simplifies this as a “goodness transfusion.” 

S: Oh, Jazz, we love you, we do.

O: We do, you're great. Bluestreak gets back up and Jazz seems to think they've found their volunteer test subject.

S: How did they not tie this dude up while he was unconscious?

O: Good question, it's not like Jazz didn't have time while Sparkplug was fixing Teletraan-1 and making his goodness transfusor thing. What was he doing? 

S: For that matter, why the hell didn’t Jazz just- just, like, sit on him or something, so they didn't have to- didn't have to tie him up. Or have anything to tie him up. 

O: An even better question. [Laughter]

S: I don't know, they probably could have locked him in one of the recharge chambers or-

O: Something.

S: Jazz distracts Bluestreak while Sparkplug runs up and sticks the device on Bluestreak’s leg.

O: This works as Bluestreak’s optics change from red back to blue.

S: And he informs Jazz that- and Sparkplug about Megatron's orders to take the airbase and steal the plans for the satellite.

O: The three of them set forth to make more attitude adjusters. Apparently, they're not multi-use.

S: I have a number of questions, including why they're stealing the satellite plan but they're literally going to be stealing the satellite?

O: Megatron wants to cover all of his bases.

S: I guess? Maybe they wanted to like review if they're going to adjust the satellite or something-

O: I suppose.

S: I don’t know, or just make copies of it but if they have it they could just- I don’t know.

O: I don't know. 

S: Meanwhile, Dr. Harding continues to be a fuckin badass, climbing into a dumpster to hide from Hound.

O: In heels. I’m pretty sure she’s in heels. 

S: Yeah. 

O: Seriously, I’m in love with this woman. Why isn’t she in the series more? 

S: She and Carly would have gotten along well. 

O: I would have loved to see that.

S: She, Carly, and Chip.

O: Yeah! Yeah! Science buddies! 

S: Mm-hmm. So Dr. Harding’s, um, hiding attempt almost doesn't work as Hound begins picking up dumpsters and crushing them, but Jazz shows up just in the nick of time. 

O: Sparkplug and Jazz are able to return Hound to normal but the doctor runs off and right into the still-evil Ratchet. 

S: Jazz is a very on point today as he stops Ratchet just in time, as well.

O: Back at the Air Force base, the Autobots are continuing their rampage continuing to blow up all of the shit. 

S: Yep, tired of watching this Bee jumps on a plane and tells Prime he'll have to destroy him, too. 

O: And commercial break! Buy the toys, kids, Bumblebee’s gonna die! 

S: And back to the show, Skyfire is in the air, blowing shit up.

O: I just feel really bad for him, he's gonna feel super bad if he remembers any of this when he wakes up.

S: Um-hm. Sparkplug, Dr. Harding, Jazz, Bluestreak, Hound, and Ratchet arrived on the scene. They're just collecting people-

O: Yeah, this is like the superhero movies where you have to go collect each superhero. I also kind of love that Dr. Harding was riding in Ratchet, who was tried to kill her a few minutes ago.  Respect, madam, respect. 

S: Yup, they see Skyfire and then Scarf- eaugh- 

O: [Snorts] And then Scarfplug-

S: Sees Skyfire and Sparkplug wonders how they're going to get one of the devices way up on him. Hound offers to shoot it with his vertical beam gun.

O: Patent-pending.

S: They're able to shoot him once they get him to come a bit closer and then Skyfire returns to normal and then, now that he’s there, they load up and roll out.

O: Still the taxi service, buddy.

S: The scale is incredibly off here because Skyfire just looks like he's bigger than the Ark. 

O: Big boy! Bee is still holding the ground against Optimus but gets lifted up in the air, just as the others arrive in Skyfire.

S: They show up just in time to interrupt the evil Autobots’ arts and crafts lesson.

O: With aircraft! 

S: There's so much you can do with aircraft.

O: Obviously. Look! I can make pretty flowers. 

S: Yeah. You can give yourself wings.

O: [Laughter] Look Optimus! I’m a Seeker! 

S: Hound is able to shoot Prowl and Brawn with the personality things but misses Optimus. Who proceeds to chuck Bumblebee across the tarmac. 

O: Prime splits into three, by way of his trailer, Roller, and himself. So, the Father, Son, and Holy Trailer? [Laughter] 

S: Yeah.

O: Hound nails the trailer and Roller in short order.

S: They missed their chance to hit the three for one deal and now they have to get them all separately and, oh no! They're down to their last attitude exchanger.

O: They apparently only had time to make one extra.

S: I'm kind of amused by the fact that they acted- so the thing is, technically, I think they made three extras.

O: I guess you're right, because they missed with one, and then they had to hit two or- for the trailer.

S: that- four.

O: Yeah, they had- so they had to hit his trailer and Roller and then him. So you’re right. Technically, they made four. 

S: Which, that is actually a pretty good margin of error, I think.

O: Yeah, I’ll give you that one. You're right, they were like, “Okay, we know this many are infected, presumably,” and then they made four extra and probably ran out of time, which, fair. Okay, fair. 

S: So they- they made an attempt. 

O: They did. I got to give Jazz and Sparkplug more credit here. And Bluestreak, I guess, he was helping, too. 

S: Yeah. Bee yoinks the uh, remaining attitude adjuster out of Ratchet’s hands and books it on over to Optimus.

O: Optimus is able to fight the control for just long enough for Bee to get the attitude exchanger on him.

S: The Autobots realize they must stop the rocket launch to stop Megatron's plan and Dr. Harding says that it must go into orbit and that earth needs the energy that it'll supply. 

O: Why didn’t the Cons just steal it from orbit?

S: Because they're dumbasses and we've got to have something so, you know, have drama here.

O: Do they not have object permanence? Like, “Oh, we can't see it anymore, it's not there anymore.” 

S: I guess, I don't know they've made so many fucking spaceships at this point that they just have-

O: This shouldn't be a problem! [Wheezes] Hell, Starscream is apparently space worthy! They could have just- I don't know, waited a couple weeks and chucked Starscream into the atmosphere? 

S: I imagine all the Seekers are space worthy. I mean, have we gotten to the episode where Shockwave just rides Starscream in-

O: No, not yet.

S: -in space.

O: No, no, not yet. But- but yeah like we have proof that, at least, Starscream is space worthy and presumably both the other Seekers are, too. 

S: I don't think, shoot. What's-his-face? Astrotrain has come in yet but he's definitely space worthy.

O: Like, yeah, yeah! Fair, fair.

S: And we know Megatron’s space worthy.

O: Oh well, yeah, right! He can fly, why am I arguing with this? 

S: Yes, he can fly and, I mean, we already saw him survive a planet explosion or whatever happened with that.

O: I would still- don't know how that worked but, uh, they all load up into Skyfire again, and head over to the rocket launch.

S: Megatron rips a door off the rocket and the Cons pile in and-

O: That's not gonna cause problems at all here, huh?

S: Oh, it should. I mean, it doesn't mean that it will. 

O: This ship doesn't operate on reality... right.

S: It- Yeah, it ignores so many things.

O: It does. The rocket blasts off and Ratchet and Optimus bail out of Skyfire to land on it.

S: They, um, they're go- they're the go-team, apparently. Where's Wheeljack in this? I feel like Ratchet’s missing his buddy.

O: Wheeljack hasn't been in this entire episode so I have to assume he's taking the Dinobots somewhere, otherwise I'd assume they would have all been smashing stuff up, like with everybody else.

S: At this point, I just think Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Beachcomber took the Dinobots out for some enrichment and missed the whole thing.

O: I mean, probably just so they didn't have to fight the Dinobots uh, is why they're not in here but, uh, yeah, no, I agree with that. That's much nicer. 

S: Yeah, they're all out doing swamp science or something.

O: See, I'm just imagining - they took the Dinobots to the beach.

S: [indistinct]

O: Beachcomber’s with them, right?

S: Yeah.

O: So, they're all on the beach. Uh, Wheeljack is there with whatever a robo pina colada is, uh, Perceptor’s taking sand samples, Beachcomber is corralling the Autobots- er, the- the Dinobots close to shore. It's a very, very heartwarming family vacation. So Ratchet could get a bit of a break, you know, not having to babysit the dinosaurs and then they come back and it's- it's like that gif where the guy walks into the room and everything's on fire. That- that is what Wheeljack came home to- and he's, like, “Probably a good thing I left although, boy, do I hate coming home.” [Laughter] 

S: Yeah, yeah. Meg- Ratchet and Optimus have been trying to separate the rocket and the satellite so Optimus can take it into orbit and Megatron doesn’t like this plan.

O: Nevermind how this rocket is fucking GINORMOUS for some reason because the Cons are so! Tiny! [Laughter] Specs just keeps, like, shrugging in more exaggerated motions, I’m sorry you can’t see it.

S: Yeah. The other Autobots want to help but aren't sure how- with how to do it without hurting Optimus and Ratchet, until Jazz gets an idea, and I wonder what that idea’s gonna be.

O: He gets on the outside of Skyfire and I love Skyfire so much here, he's like, “Watch the first step, it's a doozy,” and, of course, all I can think of is, “Watch the first step, it's a dooooozy!”

S: And then Jazz transforms into car mode, so we have a car... riding a jet. Specifically, a Porsche riding a space jet.

O: I'm pretty sure that Skyfire’s, ah, model or whatever was not big enough to do that in Macross but alright. [Laughter]

S: Who knows? And about that Chekhov's gun or, in this case, Chekov’s speakers.

O: Jazz uses his new sound system to create a musical sonic boom.

S: Jazz weaponized music to take out a rocket.

O: Of course he did. Megatron orders the Cons to, “Abandon rocket!” 

S: Ratchet and Optimus land safely on Skyfire who takes them high enough for Optimus to yeet the satellite into orbit.

O: [Laughter] 

S: Honestly, why don't they just get Brawn to do this? 

O: I- do we even see Brawn? Is Brawn here? I don't remember.

S: I don't know, it's just no- I mean, why don't they just hire out Brawn’s services to toss things into orbit? 

O: [Laughter] Well, or, like, Perceptor. I know he's not in this episode but he's in the next episode as like- I could see Perceptor shooting something into space with an amazing degree of accuracy.

S: That’s true.

O: Probably would take less fuel, too. 

S: Yeah. So, yeah, Optimus yeets the stupid satellite into orbit and it's just goofy as hell. Back at the Ark, Ratchet’s yanked out the personality displacer from the recharge stations.

O: This would not have fucking happened if you had more than two beds! In the entire Ark! 

S: And if they weren't controlled by the same damn thing, like, if you had separate control systems.

O: Right, so you couldn't just shove the thing in Teletraan-1. But! Everyone decides to fight for credit for saving the day.

S: Ratchet has a fit of temper, as he does not want to share and begins to argue with Sparkplug, 

O: “You wouldn’t know a microchip from a potato chip!” The Autobots know what potato chips are.

S: Well, Ratchet does, and presumably Spike has eaten potato chips in Bumblebee so he might have had to deal with-

O: -Crumbs.

S: [Laughter, indistinct] -crumbs!

O: “Hey, Ratchet, I need a good vacuum.” “You need a what!?!” 

S: And we have a total on the number of Air Force jets destroyed by the Autobots. 

O: Jazz says it's 47. 

S: How much is that gonna cost the Autobots, anyway?

O: Nothing! Optimus says Ratchet, Sparkplug are gonna fix them!

S: Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy. Uhhh, I’m not sure they're gonna pass muster for safety tests and Spike says that they're gonna be doing it for weeks.

O: Weeks? Just weeks!?

S: Well, I guess when you have giant alien robots doing all the heavy lifting it's not that bad but rather they shouldn’t be putting those back together, anyway. They should really just make new ones at this point because planes have a lot of safety requirements-

O: Yeeeaaaah.

S: -and stuff. Uh, I don't think anyone's gonna want to be in those planes.

O: I wouldn't blame them and join us next time for episode 27: Microbots! Get ready for a fantastic journey, into Megatron???

S: Oh, it's into a world of imagination.

O: Like nothing you’ve ever seen. Also Perceptor! It is a Perceptor episode and I am delighted.

S: Yessss. 

O: Also fuck Brawn. 

S: And we have some fanfic for today but I think Owls’ gets to be the one to give the recommendations.

O: So, I've mentioned this before, but I have a whole uh, sheet of fics, just in case Specs forgets to do the fics. And Specs forgot to do the fics, so I get to do it today. 

S: A lot- A lot of stuff happened recently.

O: It's been a busy month, guys, it has been so busy. I am so tired. The first recommendation is “Quiet” by LittleMissSweetgrass. Continuity is IDW, the rating is G. It is slash, because it is Cosmos/Soundwave. Our characters are Soundwave and Cosmos, and “Soundwave gets a virus and suddenly it is very loud.” It's a one shot. It is part of a series. It is very short but cute and uh, Coswave is one of my favourite ships ever,  which is why they got added to this because it doesn't exist in G1 and I’m well aware it doesn't exist in G1 so I was, like, look I gotta put ‘em somewhere. 

O: And then our other one is “Here Be Monsters” by Lush_Specimen. Continuity is IDW, it's G, its slash, it has Hoist/Trailcutter, Rodimus/Thunderclash, and uh, Minimus Ambus/Megatron- Our characters are Megatron, Hoist, Rodimus, Thunderclash, Riptide, and Minimus Ambus. In summary, “A late-night visit from Hoist forces Megatron to confront the overwhelming personal tragedies created by his legacy of violence. As he contemplates the long reaching consequences of his words he begins to wonder if he truly deserves a second chance.” This is multi-chapter but it has been completed. Um, it's just kind of nice. I'm always- I'm always here for ah, Lost Light Megatron actually having to think about things and being forced to consider, basically, his actions. So I really like this one.

S: Nice, thank you. And that just about wraps it up for us today. Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark-Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned.  You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter @AftersparkPod (all one word), and various other locations by searching for, “Afterspark Podcast,” such as AO3, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Youtube, just to name a few.  Until next time, I'm Specs.

O: And I'm Owls.

S: Toodles!

[Outro Music]

[algernoninwonderland]

Miraculous, the Monster of the Week Format and the Status Quo, or Why Things Barely Change At All

TLDR; while the monster-of-the-week format doesn’t mean there is no overarching plot in Miraculous, these monsters are variable in terms of quality and the overarching plot itself is not something the show explores. 

The fact that you can watch 80% of the show in any order without feeling lost is quite telling: the goal is to have self-contained stories during the space of one episode, not to have things that happened in such and such episode have consequences in the following ones. Which is frustrating in the long run, even more so when the monster-of-the-week format doesn’t mean that episodes are aired weekly. 

It isn’t that the people working on Miraculous aren’t talented enough to write something good, simply that the format they have to work with makes the story what it is.

Now, if you want to read something a little more detailed, just click the thingy!

With now 64 episodes aired, it’s safe to say that Miraculous is a show that is meant to stay on our screens for quite some time. For exactly five seasons, so far. Yay! Or perhaps not?

With its reused villains (when you’ve got 2.0 in your title, that screams Electric Boogaloo, I’m sorry), its apparent lack of character development and little focus on the overarching plot (if there is any, at this point), it sounds like this is pretty much stretched out. 

The show has two focuses, so to say, our two cinnamon buns and their love story, and superhero stuffs with different villains in each episode (and that guy alone in his lair, and sometimes that woman with the fan but eeeeh, don’t sweat it, besides they’re interchangeable so far)

What do I mean by Monster-of-the-week format?

Exactly what the title says. For each week/episode, one villain. Who is defeated at the end of the week. Yay! The prime example of this is the original Scooby Doo cartoons, Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

Now, what do we think of that show? Other than the laugh tracks, it holds up well enough. More importantly, though, every story is self-contained, and the appeal of the Scooby Doo is its mysteries. We don’t care about Velma’s backstory, or how Fred became the leader, these characters have very little depth and that’s OK, their interactions is not the main point of the story.

Scooby Doo has a very simple formula: 

The gang goes somewhere, finds mystery, chase one, traps, chase two with a bubblegum pop soundtrack this time, then the mystery is solved, very basically. And we can move on to the next mystery

You can air any episode in any order, you can get the story without feeling lost.

And for most Miraculous episodes, it is true as well! They follow roughly the same recipe:

Something something civilian life, Hawk Moth akumatises someone, Superhero Time, Lucky Charm, Status Quo again.

The first episodes that aired never explained how Marinette got her Miraculous and… It didn’t seem to matter all that much?

But there’s a problem here. MLB isn’t just about Superhero Thingies™. We’ve got that Love Tesseract™ thing too. And a love story requires a progression and character growth to work. 

You can’t have a monster-of-the-week format if you try to explore things that are character-driven, unless there is a clear follow up, an overarching plot.

Like, say…

Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Utena is one of my favourite shows of all time, and I’m talking live action and animated. It is stylish, the writing is great, the direction work is awesome. It’s a masterpiece and for a show aired in 1997, it aged pretty well in the way it handles it themes. (some of the animation is wonky, though, characters are definitely not always on model, it’s not perfect but hey, 1997)

You should watch Utena. It’s available on Nozomi if you’re from Americaland, otherwise I’m sure you’ll find a way to stream it somewhere. Or buy the BluRay.

So, Utena has a “Duel of the Week” format, it follows a clear formula. And just like Miraculous, it recycles animation and some sentences are said at least once or twice per episode. Hell, Miraculous references Utena quite a few times (but I’ll make a post just for that).

Having a repetitive formula does not mean you cannot have a sense of progression. And Utena shines because of that. Things… Things have consequences, a duel leads to another because of reasons that become clear. It’s not a “we need that many episodes” thing, everything is needed, you cannot not watch an episode, even the recap ones, even the Nanami ones, especially the Nanami ones (Nanami who is a much better Chloé than Chloé is).

Unlike Miraculous, Utena has an overarching plot, you can’t play the episodes in any order. Repetitions and variations are meaningful in Utena, it is not simply a matter of style, or rather, style in Utena is meaningful, not only there for “the show”, a spectacle which in itself is meaningful too. Hell, everything in Utena is meaningful. Meaningful. Could you imagine that much meaning in Miraculous? Me neither.

But, you may say, you’re not fair; you’re comparing Miraculous, a show aimed at schoolchildren, with Utena, an anime aimed at an older audience.

And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong if you thought so. Which is why I’ll reiterate my point with a show for which Thomas Astruc himself worked.

Code Lyoko

Code Lyoko is super formulaic, replace Hawk Moth with XANA and superpowers with going inside a computer and that’s about it. It recycles a lot of its animation, the character design is… A bold choice. I barely watched it when I was younger though it was a pretty big thing for us Frenchies  (but hey it’s available on YouTube now in French so I binged the entire thing in a few days and while it’s not groundbreaking, it does some things really well)

Code Lyoko is all that, repetitions, terribly formulaic, XANA-tised person/plushie of the week thing with towers to deactivate and whatnot, and a “return to the past” to erase whatever has occurred during the episode. Literally. 

But. 

Once again, a visible overarching plot, and can you believe it, things have consequences. William is lost on Lyoko, and the kids spend episodes looking for him. There’s romance, and though it is dealt with clumsily, there’s a sense of progression to it. Things… Happen… With… Consequences.

Miraculous is, for the most part, an inconsequential show

Yeah, the problem with Miraculous is that its overarching plot is muddy and flimsy, the status quo is very much that, I’d argue that it’s a show in which nothing truly happens because nothing has consequences. I mean… Nino and Alya are dating, I guess? Adrien… Is still allergic to pigeon feathers? There are sometimes more than just two heroes? But it doesn’t really matter.

And Oblivio is the perfect example of that.

That’s the message of the episode. Even if we forget things, it still works, there is no need for memory, for remembering what has happened in all the previous episodes because we still make it work somehow. What happened before this episode does not matter to the story we are telling now.

The show keeps telling the same things about its characters, over and over, and whenever something new is introduced… Well it’s great but don’t expect to see it in the episodes after that one.

Which is why specials, story arcs which last two episodes, are good. There is room for developed character moments, interesting interactions, plot, sometimes good fights too. Chloé shines in Queen’s Battle, “Origins” is, for me, probably the best bunch of episodes in the entire show so far because things happen and we can see change happening. Like, actual change. Characters who learn how to do stuff, whose interactions with one another changes over the course of these two episodes. 

Outside of this however… Here, have that very important book, we’ll see it in one or two episodes because we need a macguffin and voilà. Here, have new heroes, but don’t expect to see them after that episode, unless we need a real showdown. 

It’s hard to get hyped by Jeremy Zag’s posts, because no matter how cool Dragon!Kagami looks, because of that format of self-contained stories with the only connection being them being the same static characters. Kagami with a Kwami? Eh. It’ll be a one-off thing, sure it’ll be cool but to make the plot move on… Don’t sweat it. 

Speaking of Kagami, she is presented the exact same way in Frozer and Selfinsertepisode Animaestro, nothing has changed about the character, don’t worry, she’s still going to be used the exact same way, perhaps we’ll show once again that she really cares for Adrien but hey, we already knew that, there’s nothing new in Onichan. And that is symptomatic of the entire cast.

Is that format something the creators of the show absolutely wanted? Is near-stagnation what they wished for? Let’s decide it’s not their choice, and that they try their best with the limitations they have.

Would these flaws be this glaring if new episodes were aired weekly? Like, say, air three episodes during three weeks, a break and then some new episodes again? I think not. The wait and the lack of follow-up from one episode to the next makes them really noticeable, and watching them feels unfulfilling.

So that airing schedule I just suggested? That’s not how things work, that’s not how television works apparently and there’s nothing the people who work on Miraculous can ask about it. Thomas Astruc doesn’t know when the episodes will air, blah blah blah. Television networks not really caring about the shows they air? Never heard of that before, huh. SU

So I guess this is it, then. I hope you enjoyed this overlong post!

(shameful self-promotion moment, but about Kagami, I wrote a Kagaminette/Marigami fic, it’s 80,000 words so far and I update it on Mondays so give it a look if you want! It’s here.)

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2018 Anime Overview: Revue Starlight

(Also known as Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight).

Karen Aijou is training at her school to put on the annual Takarazuka play, “Starlight”. She’s shocked when her childhood friend, Hikari, suddenly appears. She follows Hikari into mysterious elevator and finds her engaged in an even more mysterious sword fight with another student that’s preceded over by a talking giraffe for some reason. She’s told that this is a competition between “Stage Girls” for the title of “Top Star”. Karen sees that Hikari is in trouble, and quickly dives to her rescue, remembering the promise she and Hikari made to become stars together. Now Karen is involved in a truly strange competition...

I was super sold on Revue Starlight from the first episode. Girls fighting with swords? Takarazuka? A random giraffe? Utena references? Nice animation? This show was made for me, clearly.

And I came out of it satisfied. It was pretty surreal and pretty gay and that’s what I’m here for. It’s hard to explain exactly what the series is about without giving away some major plot twists, I’ll put it like this- it’s very much about two girls trying to upend the vicious, cyclic system they are caught in and there are definite themes of adolescence and identity. And some characters are not what they seem. I’m always down for that.

After all, the “Top Star” system only lets one person be at the top, while the others get their dreams crushed- but Karen wants to stand together with someone. There’s a lot of light critical examination of how Takarazuka in particular is structured here- I’d really suggest checking out these posts by Atelier Emily which dig deep into the subject. Basically, there’s this understanding in Takarazuka that the “otokoyaku” (the woman who the male roles) will be top star and its the “musmeyaku” (the woman playing the female roles)  must support her and consign herself to secondary status.

As Emily puts it “ [The musumeyaku must be] the perfect feminine foil so the otokoyaku’s masculine performance would stand out more in relief, [...], all while taking care not to skew too much into a romantic interest, so that young women in the audience can still imagine themselves in the arms of their favorite otokoyaku top star. Furthermore, they cannot achieve top star themselves, and must ensure that their talents do not outshine those of their otokoyaku partner.”

This whole dynamic plays heavily into the show- Claudine and Maya are the top otokoyaku/musumeyaku pairing in the school, yet it is Maya who gets all the attention while Claudine feels frustrated and like she’s second best. She wants to outshine Maya, but it seems like she just can’t. Meanwhile, Karen has this idea she and Hikari can be a couple who share the stage equally, which threatens to destabilize the entire system.

The series does not just examine Takarazuka but the nature of theater in general though, with the last episode in particular digging a little into the role the audience plays. It’s also touches on adolescent anxieties- we see characters coping with fear of the future and growing up, we see Mahiru struggling with her unrequited crush on Karen and her jealousy of Hikari and childhood friends finding their bond straining...of course, as expected of a series where a giraffe watches girls engage in sword fights while singing, these conflicts are expressed in a fantastical way much of the time.

Before I go further, I should mention some cool things the series did that I really need to go back and examine- there’s a lot about the show I feel I haven’t grasped yet, and I feel I need to rewatch it before I’m able to grasp it completely. BUT I GOTTA GET THESE REVIEWS OUT BEFORE I DIVE INTO THE NEW SEASON, so this is what you get.

 One thing I missed out on is that the songs the girls sing while fighting are really connected to themes of the episode- unfortunately the release I watched did not translate them, so that was lost on me. The credits sequence was also an evolving one, the lyrics would change and it would focus on a different girl or pair of girls each time- but again, not translated, so I feel like I watched an incomplete version of the show. But I will get the whole package someday because I think it’s really cool the show did that.

 I was correct in guessing from the beginning that this series takes a ton of inspiration from Utena and also from Yuri Kuma Arashi (the director actually worked on that show) but this is very much its own thing. There are scenes in the first half that seem like they’d fit in with Love Live! or some other idol show, with girls just goofing around and ~following their dreams~, but the back half leaned way farther into the plot and metaphorical significance of the bizarre stuff that was happening. 

I think the main thing Revue Starlight has going against it is character- Karen doesn’t really change much over the course of the show. She matures and is challenged a bit yes, but not in a significant way. The Karen of episode 12 makes the same decisions and has the same goals as the Karen of episode 2 essentially did. There’s not that much to her other than her determination to become the top star with Hikari, as well as her very broad “cheerful, ditzy and persistent” I’m-the-main-character-of-an-anime deal. 

Hikari is a bit more complex, with some backstory and reveals about her character in store, but she also isn’t anything we haven’t seen before in a lot of ways. It was hard for me to get as invested in their relationship as I wanted- they’re just fine as characters, and they serve the themes of the show fine, but they’re so broadly sketched and kind of nebulous the emotional connection is not quite there for me. 

Which is too bad, because they are EXTREMELY Gay. Don’t expect any kissing or anything ground-breaking, but the stuff they say about each other is like you know. “I only want you by my side/be with my forever/YOU’RE MINE, EVVVVERYTHINNG 222222 MEEEE THE REASSSSON I LIIIIVE IS FOR US” that sort of stuff that leaves little doubt. 

The gay doesn’t stop with that.There’s also the fact that Mahiru’s is as blatant as she can be about her huge crush on Karen (she uh. goes looking for an indirect kiss at one point) and she sees Hikari as her rival, and is pretty much clearly correct. All of the other girls are clearly paired up and you’ll have them referring to each other as “my [insert name here]” or saying other stuff that barely qualifies as subtext and suggestively dancing with each other.

Like I said, nothing ground breaking, but it’s good as far as “It’s-not-as-text-as-I’d-like- but-really-barely-subtext” gay stuff goes.

Most of our background lesbians are just a lot more interesting than the main ones, but we’re not given enough time to connect with them as much as I’d like either. Their arcs could have been more fleshed out, especially the arc of one surprising major player. I think a series with so much going on and such a big cast to explore maybe should have been a twenty-six episode deal so it could dig a little deeper with the characters and build up to things a little more.

So yeah, if I’d talk about the quality of my emotional connection and the strength of the characters and narrative and in how incisive it is, it’s not nearly as good as Utena (which I wasn’t expecting it to be, THAT’S A TALL ORDER) and more on the level of its other major influence, Yuri Kuma Arashi. It is a lot more thematically cohesive than YKA and without the deeply uncomfortable aspects, thankfully. The series may have moe character designs, but it remains classy and never indulges in blatant fanservice that I can remember. 

There’s plenty of other things to touch on- there’s what  seems to be light examination of the ‘bury your gays’ trope, as we find out the play “Starlight” is about a pair of HEAVILY-queer-coded-girls whose story ends with them tragically cut down and separated, and the series engages with what that show means for these girls acting it out and whether they’ll have to meet the same fate.

 Honestly, it’s the kind of series you could write loads and loads of analysis for, so if you like stories you can interpret a lot and read a lot of things into, this is probably your jam. I’ve loved the discussion this series has encouraged- I advise checking out the Afictionado’s posts on the show! I can’t wait to read more about everyone’s perspectives on the show as I revisit it!

So yes, my final verdict? it’s a good show, and if you’re like me and you love stuff that centers around the relationships between girls, if you love stuff that’s full of symbolism and action and weirdness that looks at the construction of fiction and fighting unfair systems and if you think Takarazuka and musicals are cool as hell- definitely check this one out. I recommend it and there’s really nothing offputting about it I can think of. One of the “Top Stars” of the season for sure.

I’m excited to give it a rewatch and pick up all the things I missed the first time. Right now, It’s not in my top ten or anything and I can’t say it moved me deeply. it was just a bit to nebulous in a lot of ways- but its definitely a worthy addition to the “lesbians with swords” genre, and in the end, what better compliment can there be than that?

[mysticdragon3md3]

Time for my post-WonFes2017summer picks.  ^_^  (Also including some figures that were announced a little before WonFes.)

My definite buys:

For me, the heart-stopping surprises were Nendoroid Taikogane Sadamune and Nendoroid Lina.  I mean, seriously?!  *O*  Sada-chan was on my WonFes wishlist, but I didn’t think there was a real chance of seeing him!  And Lina---!  That was completely out of no where!  Slayers was one of my oldest fandoms, and I didn’t think anyone even knew that series anymore!  On top of that, the Volks booth at AX2017, less than a month ago, made it seem like Volks had all the rights to make Lina figures. Though I would have preferred her TV series outfit, her movie outfit has pretty versatile pants that might be good on other Nendoroids. And hey, if she paves the way for a Nendoroid Zel, then I’ve got no complaints.  Regardless, a Nendoroid Lina Inverse is a dream come true.  *o*  The way I felt when I saw these 2 Nendoroids is exactly how I should feel about all the figures I preorder (instead of wasting my money on lukewarm buys).  

Casual version Yuri was also a surprise.  Not the “take my breath away”, "I can't wait to buy this" type of surprise, but more just surprised how much Good Smile Company is milking Yuri on Ice.  I guess it makes sense, with the fanbase so rabid.  But a whole other Nendoroid only really makes sense in terms of the characters’ different skating outfits.  This isn’t a skating outfit!  But somehow they knew they could get away with this, AND an upcoming coach outfit version for Victor!  LOL ^o^  ...But I can’t really complain.  I love versatile wardrobe for my Nendoroid collection in general.  Now I don't have to get that Nendoroid Yuki Nagato Disappearance version for her own similar coat.  ^-^  

And of course I'm obligated to get the maiko version of Kyoko Sakura.  She's my least favorite of the Holy Quintet, but I love wafuku, I'm a completionist, and I am getting the rest of this upcoming PMMM maiko set.  I'm sure they'll make her look beautiful.  Anyway, I kind of liked Kyoko from the Rebellion movie.  ^_^

Figma Joker didn't premier at WonFes, but he was displayed there, while his preorder was just opening.  So, let's count him.  I NEED THIS FIGMA SO MUCH.  Regardless that I had just decided to drop collecting Figma, since I prefer chibi Nendoroids...  But this Figma, I'd have no regrets getting.  ^o^  Joker's costume is just so cool!  I've always loved black trench coats, often drew them on character illustrations, and almost bought Nendoroid/Figma Kirito just because of his black trench coat (even though I don't watch SAO).  But now that I'm totally in the Persona 5 fandom, I'm so glad that there's now a black trench coat'ed figure for a character I already love.  

Next are figures I might buy, but not quite sure yet:

I haven't watched "Welcome to the Ballroom" yet, but if Tatara Fujita's scruffy-haired character design is any indication, he might be the earnest, sincere, cinnamon roll type that's one of my favorites.  *.*  If I get into this series late, and it turns out I'll love it, then I'll really regret missing this preorder window.  But even besides that, his tux is so versatile and nice, I might want to get him just to add to my Nendoroid collection's overall wardrobe.  

I kind of dropped off of watching "New Game" for some reason, even though it's got all the moe and "slice of life" that I love.  o_o?  But before I forgot about it, Hifumi was one of my favorites.  ^.^!  So socially awkward and exuberant through text messages...She's just so relatable!  ^u^  And so adorably shy!  If I was following this series closely, I'd HAVE TO have this Nendoroid.  But I'm not so sure now.

Kasen Kanesada has nice character design, but I really have to lay off the Touken Ranbu Nendoroids.  Originally, I wanted only the Date-gumi Nendoroids.  But before Orange Rouge was created, we had to support all the male figures we could, until they got the hint.  In other words, I bought all of the first few Touken Ranbu Nendoroids, and now it's ballooned into this huge chunk of my collection.  x_x;  Even though they have such nice character designs, I really have to stop now!  @w@!  Also, I'd normally collect all the hakama I could, but I've already got some from 2 other TouRabu Nendoroids and 2 more TouRabu Nendoroid Co-de.  I should really stop now.  ...But I do like wafuku...

This chibi Lelouch is an Ichiban Kuji / Kyun-Chara from Banpresto.  I don't really have any feeling about this Code Black costume design, but I'm just so desperate for a chibi Lelouch to match my Chibi-Arts C.C., I'd probably buy this figure if I came across it.  

Next group is made of figures I really shouldn’t buy, but they’re very tempting:

A few days ago, I saw Nendoroid Tomo Kunagisa, and though I have no idea what "The Beheading Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense Bearer" is, I began to seriously think about preordering her.  She's got multi-shaded blue hair!  *o*  It's got hints of greeen and indigo...  I'm a sucker for pastel hair and cool colors (vs warm colors), but most of the pastel-haired Nendoroids I already bought are lavender or pink haired.  I'd _love_ more blue-haired Nendoroids, especially with multiple blue-ish hues like Tomo.  Plus, she's just so cute!  Look at her little bare feet!  She comes with down AND braided hair...Her coat is cute...She holds a little flower accessory...And she even comes with a seated pose!

But if I get Tomo, I'd have to get Ii-chan, from the same series.  I say that as a completionist, but honestly, his casual hoodie sweatshirt and jeans would be a great addition to my overall Nendoroids' wardrobe.  And I'd no longer have to consider geting an Osomatsu-san Nendoroid, just for the same type of outfit.  That'd be a relief, because I'm not really a fan of those Osomatsu character designs. But if I'm in for Tomo, then I'd be in for Ii-chan too, and that sounds like a lot of money for a series I know nothing about and characters I don't know enough to have attachment to.  o_o;  

Then there's the Arthur Pendragon Nendoroid.  I'm not really a Fate Stay Night fan, let alone, a Fate Grand Order, or whatever spinoffs are going on with that series now.  But that Arthur Pendragon has a nice character design!  I really like his hair, going off into different directions.  And that armor could turn out pretty cool once it's painted too.  Previously, I've gotten Nendoroid Annelotte just because of her intricate armor, even though I wasn't into her series.  So why not Arthur Pendragon?  Like her, he could be a beauty piece.  And maybe it'd be nice to have a Western styled warrior next to my Touken Ranbu Nendoroids.  He'd either fit right in or make an interesting contrast.  It would just seem unfair if I didn't get him, while I was willing to get all those TouRabu Nendoroids---But I'm supposed to be saving money!!!  I have to stick to my rule of not buying from series/characters I don't know!  For once, I need to TRY adhering to that rule!  ;o;  

The Code Geass figures are pretty self-explainatory, given that it's one of my favorite series and CLAMP's Mokona Appapa is one of my favorite illustrators.  ^_^  But still, static scale figures are soooooooooo expensive.  And that Lelouch/Suzaku figure looks super expensive!  x_x;  I can't get that.

And lastly, there are the figures I’ve decided not to buy:

Some of these figures used to be on my wishlist when they were first announced, but I've decided against them by now.  The rest are just minor interests worth noting, but I never intended to buy.  

Originally, I was going to get Figma Utena, Figma Umi Ryuuzaki, Figma Fuu Hououji, and Nendoroid Ariel.  But I got Figma Hikaru Shidou a while ago, and though I love that character, I just can't really get excited about scale figures.  But it's not just that: I have to save money, especially when I know there are so many Nendoroids I want.  x_x;  And of course, Racing Mikus are just fanciful dreams that I will never actually purchase.  Racing Mikus are too expensive!  Otherwise, I would have also gotten that knight themed Racing Miku, in addition to this year's green butterfly fairy Racing Miku!  

And Ariel, though not a scale figure, just didn't turn out as cute as I had hoped.  When I first saw her figure announcements, I very weakly committed to considering her preorder, because I wanted to try turning my other Nendoroid characters into mermaids/mermen.  But looking at her waist joint close up, I'm not sure it would align well with the Nendoroid Co-de Fundoshi, Nendoroid Aoba Seragaki's alternate body, etc.  And let's face it: I have to cut more out of my figure spending.  And realistically, I'm not fanatical about Disney.  I have to drop Ariel.  If I really want a mermaid Nendoroid, I should make a tail accessory, even as jsut a cloth sleeve to slip over a Nendoroid's legs.  I *make* figure accessories for aritst alley, for goodness sakes!  I shouldn't have to rely on Nendoroid Ariel for my Nendoroid mermaid/merman figure photography.

Juzumaru is pretty, but his costume design really isn't doing it for me.  He's just an honorable mention because I like Touken Ranbu and he's voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa, and old favorite seiyuu.  

Ryu Mustang is also an honorable mention.  I have no intention of buying him either.  He's just worth noting because FMA is cool.  ^_^  

When I originally saw the Magical Mirai 5th Anniversary Miku's unpainted prototype, I'll admit that big top hat was intriguing.  But Do I really need it?  I can make that.  I already have made smaller top hats for my Nendoroids and Chibi-Arts before.  I was not expecting this Magical Mirai Miku to look so good after painting.  *_*  All the cool colors I love, different hues blending together in her hair, and that cool backdrop of playing cards flying around behind her.  It's just really pretty!  ^-^  But still, another unnecessary expense.  

Nendoroid Wonder Woman isn't really a figure I ever seriously considered for the sake of AmeriComi.  I just happened to be thinking lately about cobbling together a custom Nendoroid that looks like me, in the same way Nendo Stories did.  But looking through the entire Good Smile Company Nendoroid catalog, it seems like Wonder Woman's hair is the closest thing to resembling mine.  

And lastly, Casual version Oikawa Toru.  No.  I am not bringing a Nendoroid Oikawa into my house!  He lost whatever slim chance he had, when the Iwaizumi Nendoroid perorders closed.  I might have accepted bringing Oikawa into my collection if I had an Iwaizumi to beat him up.  But that's done.  So get out of here, Trashykawa!  Don’t come in here with your goddamned versatile school uniform that would look great on so many of my other Nendoroids…  Just stop it already!  ;w;

Lastly, though I like Touken Ranbu, I'm not interested enough in figures from their butai stage show musicals.  I might consider the costumes as beauty pieces, if they were Nendoroids.  But Nendoroid Petites are something I’m saving my wallet from.  At least that’s one thing I can alleviate my wallet from buying.  Thankfully.  Thank goodness.  WonFes is already kicking my wallet’s butt, as it is…  x_x;

[murasaki-murasame]

Rambling about YoI’s sales data [and also LGBT representation in anime and how rare/unsuccessful it tends to be]

I know that there’s other people in the YoI fandom keeping up with and talking about the sales figures for the series, so I might just be repeating what other people are already saying, but according to someanithing.com [which is a really convenient blog for if you want some info on anime sales data in general], the sales average of the series stands at 62,666 [as of us getting info on volume five’s second week of sales]. Which is pretty astounding on multiple levels. Someanithing has a really convenient list of anime since 2000 that have gotten a 10k+ sales average [ignoring data from rereleases of series], and Yuri on Ice currently stands at sixth place, right above Nisemonogatari, and right below Osomatsu-san [which are at about 60.7k and 66.7k respectively].

Rest of my thoughts under the cut because holy shit this got REALLY long and only the first few paragraphs really specifically talk about sales data, but yeah the above paragraph is the gist of it, and the rest is just me rambling about really specific stuff, and wider anime fandom/industry stuff [emphasis on ‘rambling’, haha]. ALSO near the end I give my personal thoughts on how happy I am to see a show with a queer protagonist/central romance be so successful, and how notably against the norm it is, AND I shamelessly plug the manga Shimanami Tasogare, which I recommend to pretty much anyone looking for more LGBT representation in this general sphere.

Given that v6 has the whole Welcome to the Madness thing going for it, I expect it to get to at least 60k in sales lifetime, and I’m pretty sure that the Oricon half-yearly rankings at the start of July will give us a comprehensive idea of how every volume’s sold by then, which will effectively boost our data on the earlier volumes, so I can totally see the series maintaining a 62k+ average, maybe even a 63k average. Which would be kinda agonizingly close to Osomatsu-san’s number, but I don’t really think it has room to get quite that high, sadly. Oh well.

Also, in case anyone cares, there’s been some vague debates over the last few months about if Love Live Sunshine would be able to beat YoI, sales average-wise, but that seems increasingly unlikely. Since LLSS is currently at a 54.3k average, and would thus need to add, like, 40-50k copies to get close to YoI. I was curious to see if LLSS would have been able to do that, but we’re a good way into it’s second event ticket application period, and it hasn’t really gotten a noticeable boost at all. So yeah. With just a few weeks left until the event tickets become basically meaningless, I don’t exactly think it can add quite that amount in time to beat YoI. Of course this entire comparison is meaningless because they’re completely different series, and it’s kinda impossible to compare YoI’s fairly standard two event tickets to LLSS having five. This is mostly just something I’ve been looking at from afar as it’s panned out. I’m not trying to be weirdly snarky and hostile toward LLSS for “““losing”““ to YoI, and I don’t want anyone to use this data to be rude to that show and it’s fanbase, and gloat about YoI’s success.

But it IS still worth noting that the main reason I was intrigued by the comparison between these two shows is because they’ve been fighting for the spot of the number one best-selling show [by sales average, at least] of 2016 [I’m counting Osomatsu-san as a 2015 show]. So, with how it seems to be about to ‘beat’ LLSS, that also means that YoI will pretty much become the best-selling anime of 2016. Of course, there’s a looooot more to it than that because physical media like this is slowly declining in importance to a show’s financial success, and of course there’s aspects like how the animation studio might not be getting as much of a profit as this might imply because of their placement on the production committee [I forget where Mappa is on the committee but I think it’s near the bottom] but still. You all get what I’m trying to say. The bottom line is that YoI is incredibly, incredibly successful, and that’s wonderful. [Though it’s also worth noting that the merchandise and soundtrack and so on for this show are ALSO selling incredibly well, so bringing up the decline of physical media and whatnot is slightly less relevant here than if this was the sort of franchise where ONLY the BDs were selling well. And this is also obviously the most financially successful show Mappa has made, so even if they’re low on the committee you can probably say as a rule of thumb that they’ve gotten more from this show than their previous ones].

Back on the topic of YoI’s #6 spot on the ‘anime from 2000 to present with a 10k+ sales average’ lost, it’s pretty exciting that it’s so incredibly high, since it’ll probably maintain a top ten spot for, well, pretty much ever, considering how rare these sorts of successes are getting. LLSS is the only thing from last year that has any competition with it on that list, and that’s probably not going to surpass it. The only things, in terms of TV anime, I can see potentially surpassing YoI would be Granblue Fantasy, Osomatsu-san S2, and maaaybe LLSS S2 if that can have some kind of a notable sequel boost which I REALLY doubt, but you never know. Osomatsu-san S2 is also slightly doubtful but at least that wouldn’t need to surpass it’s respective first season to pass YoI. We’ll see how that turns out when that comes out, I guess. Granblue Fantasy is also a distinct possibility as a ‘challenger’ of sorts. It’s at least gonna be the best-seller of this current season, and will probably be in the running for best-selling TV anime of 2017. I have absolutely no idea how to predict anything with this anime though since it seems disproportionately successful at Amazon compared to other places and so estimates are out of whack for it, and also because each volume is bundled with a different sort of code, or some such, related to getting special items/characters/etc in the GBF mobile game. So it’s really hard to tell how that’ll affect things. Especially since I’ve heard some people in that fandom say that the rewards aren’t really equally interesting, so there might be some heavy fluctuation in sales between volumes. Possibly. Which would throw off estimates even more. So basically who the hell knows with that series. For reference, v1 has, as of two weeks of sales, sold a bit under 45k. But yeah that doesn’t really mean that much just yet. It’s still a bit lower than I expected given it’s kinda absurd popularity at Amazon, and it’s sorta amusing but meaningleses to compare it to YoI v1′s week one sales of 50k, but still. [[Again, I’m not trying to stir up any fandom wars of whatever here, and I don’t want anyone else doing such a thing either. There’s no reason to get mad at these shows or their fandoms if they sell well, or to be condescending and petty to them if they don’t]]

And since I’m on a roll of making interesting but mostly meaningless comparisons, it’s definitely noteworthy to compare YoI’s 62k average to Free S1′s 29.1k sales average. Like, wow. For reference, Free S1 is the current second best selling sports anime post-2000, unless we count Girls und Panzer as the second place at roughly 36.3k. But I don’t think most people count that as a sports anime sooo yeah. I’ll focus more on the Free comparison. It’s still REALLY surprising to me that we’re looking at around about a 110% increase in sales average between the two. That’s a pretty huge gap between first and second place on the sports anime genre list. It’s mostly surprising to me because Free always seemed like such an insurmountable juggernaut of a franchise. It still IS super successful and influential, of course, but still. For some reason it still surprises me to see YoI sell so much MORE than it. Of course Free also has it’s own second season plus two currently-airing compilation films and an upcoming sequel movie [I think] to even things out, but you get what I mean. It’s an interesting comparison to make. It really puts into perspective how big of a success YoI is. It’s sort of bonkers.

ALSO I want to just let myself gloat a little bit about how meaningful it is to me to have a show with a queer protagonist [a male one, in particular] AND a queer romance as the sixth best-selling TV anime since the year 2000 because HOO BOY. Sweet vindication. It’s always good to get shows like this that help prove that queer protagonists/romances aren’t always a death sentence to something’s success/popularity/mainstream appeal, even if these sorts of things, particularly in anime, still feel a little too few and far between for my liking. It’s sort of depressing looking at that big sales average list and seeing the huge lack of queer characters, especially in the protagonist sense. It’s not like there aren’t ANY, they’re just . . . pretty damn rare. Especially with male characters, where other than YoI it looks like we basically just have, uh . . . Tiger and Bunny and then Hetalia? Which I think are both way more vague about their queer representation, protagonist-wise, but I haven’t watched them so I won’t touch upon them. And obviously there’s a lot of other shows on the list that I haven’t seen, but most of them are popular enough that I have enough of an awareness of them to know that their protagonists are straight. For completeness’ sake, in terms of queer female protagonists we at least have Madoka. I think Lucky Star counts as well [and I THINK that the first MariMite season is just barely on the list???]. I’m less familiar with shows with queer female protagonists, though, so if anyone else knows more on the topic than I do, I’d love to get your input. It’s also worth noting that Revolutionary Girl Utena isn’t on this list at all because it came out before 2000, so it MIGHT have sold at least 10k but I don’t think we have any data on that at all.

I just think it’s sorta interesting, and depressing, to look at this sorta thing. It definitely makes me appreciate YoI even more. Especially since the queerness of it’s lead characters was obviously a noteworthy element of it’s success. But it’s worth noting that that’s by far not the ONLY reason for it’s success. At all. I mentioned the mentality that “““gay stuff”““ can’t sell well, but there’s definitely also a widespread mentality of ‘YoI just sold well because it’s about hot gay guys!’ [also throw in a generous heaping of misogynistic uses of words like fujoshi, and an almost complete passive erasure of the queer male portion of the fanbase for good measure!], which bugs me a lot, and looking at this list shows exactly why. Focusing specifically on stuff about male characters [since, again, that’s what I’m more familiar with], YoI is, as said, one of probably less than five shows to have sold more than 10k on average in the last 16+ years that have queer male protagonists, and the other ones seem even LESS focused on romance elements than even YoI. I don’t think that there’s a single BL/yaoi genre anime on that entire list. Which is odd because I thought that Junjou Romantica hit around 10k but I can’t find it on the list so I guess it didn’t. But that’s by far the most successful BL/yaoi TV anime out there, so . . . yeah. Really puts into perspective this weird idea people have that a show having gay characters in it is some sort of a ticket for immediate success. I mean, I sure WISH it was, but the world isn’t so kind, sadly :V [[also anyone who wants to act like that’s how things work should really look at how bad/forgettable the sales of shows like Shin Sekai Yori, No.6, Samurai Flamenco, HaruChika, etc etc, were]]

But yeah my point is that you really can’t brush aside YoI’s success as just ‘well of COURSE it sold well because FUJOS amirite???’ because, uh, no. I mean, there’s definitely stuff to be said about how female otaku in general seem to be more and more willing to actually buy anime they like rather than male otaku, and there are definitely shows that do “““pander to fujos”““ or however the hell you want to phrase it, but YoI’s success isn’t somehow commonplace. As both a sports show AND as a show with a queer male romance in it, it’s in a class of it’s own, and it really is a mix of so many different aspects that lead it to being so successful. It’s not just one single thing.

Even though the queer romance is obviously just a single facet of YoI as a show, I still hope it can serve as an inspiration for other creators, and for the anime industry as a whole. I hope it can help give support to the idea that you really can have this sort of story without it being dead in the water. You can take risks, and they can pay off, even if there’s no guarantees. So if this can, down the track, inspire more shows like this in general, especially in the specific sense of ‘non-BL/yaoi anime with queer protagonists’, then that’d be wonderful.

Basically I’m just desperately hoping that Shimanami Tasogare gets an anime adaptation at some point, haha. If you want a manga with some astounding LGBT representation, READ IT, SERIOUSLY. It’s one of only a tiny handful of manga I’ve read that actually specifically addresses how homophobia ‘works’ and how integrated into society it is, and how it affects LGBT people. But I won’t gush about it too much here because this is more of a YoI post.

[perhapsthevision]

ok I don’t think there are any security questions in here so why not

Tagged by my sister @prodigaldaughteralice​. Also, tumblr is bizarrely laggy so now I'm typing long posts in a text editor like it's 2005...

1. Coke or Pepsi: I don't actually dislike cola any more, but I also don't drink it enough to have an opinion or be able to tell the difference.  Anyway, I'm white so I can hand anything to a cop and be okay :p

2. Disney or Dreamworks: I can't tell if Dreamworks actually hasn't made anything good lately, or if knocking Dreamworks has just become a meme.  But their old stuff was good.  Disney always makes a few really good things, and then a lot of dreck.  But I kind of resent them from keeping anything from passing into the public domain, as long as their lawyers have money.

3. Coffee or Tea: I probably drink more coffee per day, but tea is the one I have opinions about.  I drink coffee with a lot of milk and am just looking for something that doesn't taste nasty; tea we keep a lot of varieties of and pick based on how we're feeling.

4. Books or Movies:  In the abstract I tend to prefer books, but I enjoy both.  

5. Windows or Mac: I typically prefer Apple stuff and my primary computer will probably always be a Mac.  But it is one of my someday goals to build a PC to act as a media/game center.  

6. DC or Marvel: I'm not that invested but I think there's more Marvel stuff I like.

7. X-box or Playstation: I've always had Playstation consoles but I have nothing in particular against the XBox line that I know of.

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: I stopped playing DA:I when I learned Cassandra was straight and I've never had access to the ME line of games.  But I'd still give this to ME since my partner loves them and he's showed me hilarious stuff from them.  

9. Night Owl or Early Riser: I really enjoy being up late, sleeping, and being up early, so I think my chronotype is officially "gets all her sleep in a time machine".  But when I was really little I was a super early riser and I wouldn't be surprised if my body eventually shifts back toward that.

10. Cards or Chess: There's a running joke about me hating chess but I'm not that into card games either.  

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate for most purposes but my test of an ice cream brand is whether or not they can make a really good cream or vanilla.

12. Vans or Converse: I haven't really found either to be supportive enough for me to wear.

13. Lavallan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar: Apparently this is a DA thing?

14. Fluff or Angst:  I don't really like either if it's just that and no plot.  But I guess I'd go with fluff because lately I don't like even very good media that are just All About Pain.    

15. Beach or Forest: Forest, but the beach can be beautiful too.

16. Dogs or Cats: I prefer cats but dogs are pretty great.  If I had a giant house with a big yard I'd give my cat his own personal army of large dogs to ride into battle.

17. Clear Skies or Rain:  I've lived somewhere really rainy for eight years and I loved it, especially since I'm light sensitive and sunburn super easily, but lately I've been really into clear skies for weird psychological reasons.  (OK, not that weird: someone I care about a lot passed away and then we kept having storms and rain.)

18. Cooking or Eating Out: I make the majority of the food we eat, and lately I've been trying to spend more of our food budget on good food to cook and less on going out to eat, but there's a great food scene here so I really do enjoy going to restaurants and food carts.  

19. Spicy Food or Mild:  I like it when the person at the spice store is like "it scares me that you're buying this"

20. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Christmas is my favorite holiday.  My family tends to come together and most of us have time off from work to spend together, and then we get to both give and receive presents, and the cookies are good.  Kids don't come by where I live and I was never into Halloween parties, so Halloween kind of fell off after I got too old to trick or treat myself.

21. Little too cold or little too hot: Little too cold -- but lots too hot.

22. Superpower: There are others that would do more good in the world but for myself, flight or time travel.

23. Animation or Live Action: There are a lot more live action things than animated things, so it seems unfair to compare them.

24. Paragon or Renegade: Like I said I haven't played ME so I never had to pick.  In general, I usually want to play evil as amoral/practical, and way too many games instead present save puppies vs kick puppies, which pisses me off.  Also, when it seems like you're picking good for less reward vs evil for more, but you KNOW that good gives you a better reward down the line, it really saps the meaningfullness of the choice.

25. Bath or Showers: On a daily basis showers are way more practical.  I do like a nice bath now and then especially if my muscles are achy, but our tub isn't really deep enough to get comfortable.  Also I get bored in the bath and have to listen to music or something.  

26. Team Cap or Team Ironman: No, you move!  Which is weird because I otherwise find Iron Man a way more interesting character.

27. Fantasy or Sci-Fi: Lately I've been picking up more sci fi but I don't have a hard preference.

28. Fav Quotes: I could make a post at least this long with random quotes I like.  

29. Youtube or Netflix: They fill pretty different roles though I know YouTube is trying to get into the business of movies/tv and original content.  

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Harry Potter was a generational thing, Percy Jackson came out after I was too old for it.  

31. When I Feel Accomplished: When something works out, particularly if I get praise for something I've been trying very hard to do.  Lately I got praise for my coding style and was told that I'm personable and easy to work with, and both of those made me really happy because I've been putting particular effort into them.  

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: There's a special place in my heart for the original SW trilogy but there's much more of the Star Trek verse that I'm into.  

33. Paperback Books or Hardback: I usually buy paperbacks because they're cheaper and easier to carry around, but really beautiful hardbacks are cool as art objects, and more durable.

34. A world without literature or music: Would probably mean some fundamental change in the psychology of humans.  Even dictatorships tend to have state-produced art to use to control the people.  I don't think it's sustainable to have humans and not have some of them trying to make art.  

35. Who was the last person to make me laugh: My cat being cute.  Are you gonna tell him he's not a person?

36. Sour or Sweet Candy:  Sweet, I've never gotten the point of sour candies.

37. Believe in aliens?: There is probably some form of life somewhere but I have no reason to believe it's interacted with or been exposed to us.

38. Dawn or Dusk: Probably dawn, but I see a lot more of dusk.

39. Piercings or Tattoos:  I see more people with a lot of tattoos that I think look good, than people with a lot of piercings that I think look good, but that is my personal aesthetics and obviously nobody made that choice to appeal to me.  I have pierced ears and want to get a (particular) tattoo on either my wrist or ankle someday but it keeps getting pushed down the priority list.

40. Girls? Hot?: Is this a choice or a song reference or ...?

41. Snow or Fog: I have a thing about snow because snow shut my city down repeatedly over the winter to a downright embarrassing extent and it probably accelerated the wear on my car.  In a city with decent infrastructure I'd dig snow.  Fog is pretty until you have to drive in it.

42. Sleep facing the wall or room: I share a bed so I always sleep facing the outside of the bed, I don't care which side I'm on.

43. TRC of AFTG: All Google tells me is this is some series I've never heard of

44. Horror or Drama: In terms of movie classifications, drama.  But again it's much broader.

45. Orcarina of Time or Majora’s Mask: I haven't played either, the only Nintendo products I ever had were DSes

46. Living in nature or city: I think about this a lot, nature appeals to me but I can't actually handle living in a remote area.  

47. Any addictions: TBH this is a weird question to put on a lighthearted quiz, like it's written only expecting caffeine and "lol this fandom pairing" answers but it's actually very personal information?  

48. Languages:  English natively.  Still pretty good at Japanese though I'm a bit shy about actually using it any more.  I can passively understand some Mandarin but I don't tend to speak it myself because I probably couldn't keep up with a conversation.  (Though I feel like a donk because people speak Mandarin around me a lot and I feel like they should know I understand like 60% of their conversation?)  French and Latin didn't really stick at all.  I can discuss who's making the coffee/tea in Korean and I'm trying to learn more, it's a goal of mine to get in a real class when I'm out of grad school.

49. What music do I listen to: I draw from a bunch of different genres, the core ones are probably indie rock, k-pop, and electronic. Then I tend to be picky about which artists I actually like.  Since I got a streaming account I've been enjoying trying out a lot of new stuff.

50. Fav mythical creature: uh do mindflayers count?

51. Safe zone: My apartment I guess?  That's where I can change into sweatpants and not feel self-conscious so let's go with that.

52. First fandom: I think it was Utena.  That was definitely the first one I was really into and old enough for the internet for.

53. Cartoons or Adult Shows: No matter how you define cartoons there's way more "adult shows" than that, unless maybe you mean "adult" shows, in which case this question gets even odder.

54. Current music: Dishwasher Noises by My Old Tiny Dishwasher.  It's an ambient classic AND gets most of the dishes mostly clean.

55. Favorite starter?: I'd better go with the one in my car so it doesn't get offended and act up.  (Litten though.)

56.  What would your witch’s familiar be? Maybe my cat, or maybe a floating land octopus.  Or a hawk.  But that might eat other people's familiars.  

[kuuderekun]

Tolkien and Wagner?

https://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2019/09/tolkien-and-wagner.html

First I want to say that I haven't seen the recent Tolkien biopic and so am not at all influenced by it's contribution to this controversy.

The question of whether or not Tolkien was influenced by Richard Wagner, a famous  19th Century German Composer, has long been a matter of controversy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien%27s_influences#Wagnerian_influences

 Some critics have suggested that The Lord of the Rings was directly and heavily derived from Richard Wagner's opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, whose plot also centres on a powerful ring.[54] Others have argued that any similarity is due to the common influence of the Volsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied on both authors.[55][56]

Tolkien sought to dismiss critics' direct comparisons to Wagner, telling his publisher, "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases." According to Humphrey Carpenter's biography of Tolkien, the author claimed to hold Wagner's interpretation of the relevant Germanic myths in contempt, even as a young man before reaching university.[57]Some researchers take an intermediate position: that both the authors used the same sources, but that Tolkien was influenced by Wagner's development of the mythology,[58][59] especially the "concept of the Ring as giving the owner mastery of the world that was Wagner's own contribution to the myth of the Ring".[60] Wagner probably developed this element by combining the ring with a magical wand mentioned in the Nibelungenlied that could give to its wearer the control "over the race of men".[61][62] In addition, the corrupting power of Tolkien's One Ring has a central role in Wagner's operas but was not present in the mythical sources.[63][64]

Some argue that Tolkien's denial of a Wagnerian influence was an over-reaction to the statements of Åke Ohlmarks, Tolkien's Swedish translator, who in the introduction to his much-criticized translation of The Lord of the Rings "mixed material from various legends, some which mention no ring and one which concerns a totally different 

ring".[65][66][67] Furthermore, critics believe that Tolkien was reacting against the links between Wagner's work and Nazism.[68][69]

The character who Wagner (And Fate/) fans usually know as Siegfried is who Tolkien fans usually know as Sigurd.Most of this debate is about the Ring Cycle/Volsunga Saga.  However I made a post nearly 4 years ago called The Holy Grail and The Silmarills, in which I argued the Silmarills, particularly the one Beren and Luthian obtain that winds up in the possession of Earendil and Elwing, was inspired by a Germanic alternative Grail tradition that began with Wolfram Von Eschenbach's Parzival.  However it's not fully developed in Parzival alone.Richard Wagner composed an Opera adaptation of Parzival called Parsifal.  I have never watched this Opera, but from my googling it seems it does include the Grail being a Jewel of Lucifer's Crown detail.  Once I again I site Jason Colavito.http://www.jasoncolavito.com/the-holy-grail-as-lucifers-crown-jewel.htmlSo I do think Wagner was an influence, but nothing in Tolkien is a one for one allegory of what he was inspired by, it all changes and blends together.But what I'm most interested in is the main reason Tolkien may have wanted to distance himself from Wagner by the 30s and 40s.  Hitler and other leading Nazis as well as their spiritual fore-bearer Houston Steward Chamberlain were huge Wagner fanboys.  Tolkien in-spite of his own reactionary tendencies absolutely hated the Nazis.I don't think Wagner would have approved of the Nazis either, even Chamberlain never actually met him (he only married his daughter).Wagner was guilty of some casual Antisemitism, debates about characters in his Operas being coded negative Jewish stereotypes are not settled, but we know he was mainly because of a piece of non-Fiction he wrote that was mostly just him saying Jews can't make good Music.  Which is mostly just proof he never saw Fiddler On The Roof.  Conspiratorial Antisemitism began emerging after the Dreyfus affair that started in 1894 over a decade after he died.  I don't think Wagner would have supported the Holocaust.Some have even argued for a Marxist reading of Wagner.https://www.marxists.org/archive/montefiore/1902/07/wagner.htmSo the Nazis and other Right-Wing German Nationalists were into the Aesthetics of Wagner, not the Substance.In the modern context of comparing early 20th Century Fascism to the modern Alt-Right, what happened to poor Wagner I view as parallel to the Alt-Right's appropriation of Anime.  Too many normies are now assuming an Anime Avatar on Twitter always means being a Trump supporter.  But a lot of Anime is inherently Counter Culture, there is no way to form a Fascist reading of Ikuhara, YuriKuma Arashi is both pro-Gay and pro-Immigration, Penguindrum and Sarazanmai are heavily anti-Capitalist and Utena is absolutely anti-Patriarchy.  For examples of Leftist Anitubers just look at Pedantic Romanic and Zeria (both Lesbian Trans Women) as well as Shonen Ronin and Posadist Pacman.Fitting then that Anime is the one of the few places modern Media references Richard Wagner without intending it to be a Nazi reference, most recently in the new Boogiepop and Others (Digi thought the Wagner references were removed because he didn't make it far enough).In Hollywood Rise of the Valkyries is always used as a musical Godwin's Law.Sadly the Anime Abandon episode on Harlock Saga states the Tolkien and Wagner connection as fact without acknowledging that there is dispute about it.