#for context I only mentioned I watched anime and boom

[woonderfullie]

I know having an acquaince say 'you look like you watch Black Butler ' is not a flex but I'm wilfully obtuse

[canmom]

Animation Night 169: Sex. 2.

So. Storytime.

Two years ago, we had a joke. "We should totally show some hentai on Animation Night 69." we said. Having said that, we were honour-bound to totally commit to the bit. Teaming up with @mogsk, I wrote a massive post on sexuality in animation and the history of 'hentai', from the hentai seiyoku discussed in 20th-century sexology journals to the modern subcultural kaleidoscope.

It is, genuinely, one of my favourite posts I ever wrote in this project. It's definitely not perfect - the sections on BL and the lolicon boom are especially weak, but still! There's no way I'm beating that.

Mogs, meanwhile assembled a perfectly pitched playlist of animation dealing with the theme of sexuality, from classic oldschool BL like Kaze to Ki no Uta to charming little comedies like Oruchuban Ebichu, and a scattering of actual h-anime like Weather Report Girl. For my part, I led with the genuinely classic film Kanashimi no Belladonna (Belladonna of Sadness).

So somehow - somehow! - we managed to make the idea of getting together with your online friends to watch a bunch of anime about sex just... plain fun and uplifting, to the point that @footsteps-on-the-dance-floor will tell me years later how much she enjoyed it. Not to mention, we got a pretty good cross-section of the different dimensions of sexuality in animation as well!

I didn't even get banned on Twitch.

This week, the counter has drawn the sex number. So can we do it again? Well, my friends, we're gonna try~ Tonight, @mogsk and canmom present: the long-awaited sequel to sex. Sex, 2.

This time we're narrowing our focus a bit. One of the distinctive elements of eromanga, by the analysis of Kimi Rito in The History of Hentai Manga, is how particular images get encoded as signs that can be reused by other mangaka, and these signs can become the seed for particular subgenres. So, our selection tonight is in part designed to give a brief cross-section of some of these visual tropes.

So let me introduce you to our program. CWs: sex, obviously; also a couple of these films (Cleopatra, Parade Parade) cw for rape. Here's the programme, read on for brief descriptions of each item and a lil cultural context~!

Cleopatra (1970) - oldschool Tezuka weirdness

Boku no Sexual Harassment (1994-5) - 90s salaryman BL

Interspecies Reviewers (2020) - monstergirl sex comedy, and an instance of the trend of recent cable TV h-anime

Agent Aika (1997-9) - panty shots to the most ludicrous degree

Comical Psychosomatic Medicine (2015) - ONA comedy framed as fetish education

Parade Parade (1996) - futanari + yuri

Golden Boy (1995-6) - 90s sakuga and a classic comedy

Queen's Blade (2009) - kyonyuu

Colorful (1999) - panty-centric comedy skits

after that: if you still have energy, I might take requests~

[n.b. a lot of these are TV series - we will only really be getting a 1-2 episode sample of each one, for runtime's sake.]

Cleopatra (クレオパトラ), 1970

Last time we led with certified classic, genuinely moving and good as hell film Belladonna of Sadness. This was part of a last gambit by the struggling Mushi Productions, the studio of Osamu Tezuka, credited with inventing TV anime back in the day with Astro Boy. Long before there would be such a thing as an h-anime subculture, Tezuka experimented with creating erotic animated films based on history and mythology.

Belladonna is the best remembered of the three, and with good reason. Tezuka was largely not involved by this point. The others, though... are some plain fucking weird movies, I'll tell you that much. So tonight we'll be watching Cleopatra (1970). I may have shown you the trailer before - this is the Caesar trampoline movie. That is only the beginning.

I recently finished reading Osamu Tezuka's manga Ayako, written in 1972-1973 - not long after this movie, actually, during Tezuka's gekiga phase. I'm sure it's common knowledge by now, but Tezuka was one horny old guy! Ayako has all manner of skulduggery: incest, murder, gangster stuff, more murder, etc., but the core story is about a girl who is imprisoned in an underground cell for 20-some years by the machinations of her family. As she grows up, she ends up in an incestuous relationship with her protective brother - and once she finally escapes, she is highly agoraphobic but also throws herself at nearly every man she meets.

It's very much a story of the sins of the past echoing down into the future, shot though with post-war history and gangster movies, but its central fixation is the figure of Ayako herself: the soft cloistered object of obsession and attraction. Whether they want to protect Ayako, seek absolution from her, fuck her, or exploit her.

But it's also in places a really wacky manga, with a lot of very comical contrivances or hyper-cartoonish panels with extreme squash and stretch. It's a completely different way of displaying action.

I think this gives me a sense of the sort of wavelength Tezuka was on when he draws a scene where Cleopatra is tied down by stakes and a bunch of guys line up to rape her while she shouts at them defiantly. It's all very theatrical, a huge contrast to the much more internally oriented Belladonna. Just a plain strange movie, but it's one I've been fascinated to watch for ages.

Whatever we make of Cleopatra, we'll jump into the program that Mogs drew up! Once again she's come through magnificently.

My Sexual Harassment (僕のセクシャルハラスメント), 1995-6

Our next act is some old school yaoi! One day I'll get to do that big effortpost on the history of BL, but not this day. In any case, Boku no Sexual Harassment is an OVA from the mid 90s about a young man called Junya Mochizuki trying to fuck his way up the company ranks for the sake of himself and his partner Kazunori Honma. In particular, he has an affair with his boss, Mr. Honma, running across the whole OVA.

This is perhaps best known for an infamous scene involving corn. It's here as a window into this period of BL - not quite as high-mindedly aesthetic as its 80s predecessors, and with its erotic focus being on like... 90s salarymen, which is quite a specific thing!

Interspecies Reviewers (異種族レビュアーズ), 2020

Next, a series which has the dubious distinction of proving too steamy for Crunchyroll. Interspecies Reviewers enters the general milieu of modern videogame-inflected fantasy anime, a comedy dancing along the line of whether it's too overtly porn to air on TV. The story tells of a group of fantasy characters who are the clients of monstergirl sex workers, hoping to encounter as many different species as possible. This is a frame device for a series of episodes focused around what it would be like to have sex with various kinds of monstergirl.

This is an example of a recent trend in TV anime, namely very overtly sexual cable TV anime such as High School DxD, which have in a way come to fill the gap left by OVAs. This is a niche that also includes the likes of Goblin Slayer and Redo of Healer. In contrast to those series' "big grimdark plot with a side of rape" approach, Reviewers is light-hearted fantasy sex comedy mixed with (if you live in China) a certain amount of actual porn, which fansubbers have kindly spliced back in to the censored release for us.

Agent Aika (AIKa), 1997-9

The panty shot is one of the more popular visual tropes in eromanga, to the point that Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga dedicates a whole two page spread to the history of the trope. (Surprisingly, I can't find any more substantial account in Kimi Rito's History of Hentai Manga).

You'll see it often enough in anime, overtly or subtly, and certainly in the early works of Katsuhiko Nishijima, who debuted in 1986 with Project A-ko, a classic Kanada-inflected OVA that still bears signs of its hentai roots. But there is nothing that takes the panty shot to the same extreme as Agent Aika (1997). The degree to which the camera in this action anime contrives to show panties at a machinegun rate... it crosses over into a level where it feels less like outright fetish material and more like experimental art.

This is a series that is only coherent through the erotic focus. And yet, it's not generally categorised as porn. Nobody actually fucks. Lines are very arbitrary...

Comical Psychosomatic Medicine (アニメで分かる心療内科), 2015

This ONA adapts a gag manga series themed around the idea of an education series on fetishes, paraphilias, and so on - not so different in concept from Peepoodoo and the Super Fuck Friends, from the sound of it! The ONA is produced by Shin-Ei Animation, a venerable studio known for beloved characters like Doraemon; it's a bunch of five minute bite-sized chunks which I plan to sprinkle in between the other stuff we watch as a palate cleanser.

Parade Parade (パレードパレード), 1996

Having warmed you up sufficiently, this is the point in the evening where we pull out the futa porn.

Parade Parade is an OVA by the studio Pink Pineapple, one of the giants of the 90s erotic OVA scene - I wrote about them a bit last time. It's a relatively "tasteful" example of the futanari (二形) trope, literally 'two forms', referring to basically a character with a mostly cis woman-typical body except for a penis (generally in addition to a vulva), which she will typically use in penetrative sex. This is typically represented as either the result of magic, an intersex condition, or just a fantasy world where it's not unusual.

Depending on your subcultural corner, this might be further distinguished from other niche variants of dickgirl (e.g. a futa must have both sets of genitals).

In anime and manga, the futa trope apparently traces back to the introduction of American trans porn magazines to Japan, inspiring mangaka such as Kitamimaki Kei to start drawing futanari characters. Futanari manga first spread through dōjinshi in the 80s, and became popular in eromanga in the 90s, before circling back to the West. So actually yeah I guess this one is on us trans girls! I always assumed it was like, an independent invention. The more you know...

Here we have succesful idol Kaori, who's secretly intersex - and only her girlfriend Yuko knows. She's very careful to let nobody know, for the sake of her career, but a rival lesbian idol is about to find out...

Golden Boy (1995-6)

Now here is a true classic.

Golden Boy is a comedy series about a wanderer named Kintaro, who dropped out of uni to travel around Japan getting into sexual escapades. Each episode, he runs into someone and hopefully falls for them while coming across as an idiot pervert, but gradually reveals that he's actually a decent and resourceful guy - and yet, having found love, there will always be a reason he must move on. A setup to hang all sorts of plots, carried by some honestly unreasonably impressive animation from the realist school, most notably Mitsuo Iso. It's just... very very well done.

The above clip did the rounds on here a while ago (I think maybe the dubbed version), and we will indeed be watching episode 4 to put that in context.

Queen's Blade (2009)

So this is a studio ARMS OVA - the guys who did stuff like Mezzo Forte with Yasuomi Umetsu - a fantasy story about a warrior tournament. But for our purposes it's standing in for the 巨乳 kyonyuu subgenre - meaning 'huge boobs'. So if you wanna do the meme in Japanese, that's the word you need.

This has a rather specific history in eromanga, recounted by Kimi Rito in The History of Hentai Manga. Per Rito, the popularity of the term dates back specifically to 1989, where it was used to promote porn star Kimiko Matsuzaka, as well as Western gravure porn magazines. Gradually displacing other terms like 'D-cup', the onomatopoeic ボイン boin and portmanteau デカパイdekapai, kyonyuu soon became cemented as the term for a type of character design. It grew in popularity in the space opened up by the bishōjo genre established by the lolicon boom.

So under the pen of mangaka like Kei Keitamimaki (him again!), designs with massively exaggerated boobs became very popular, defining a subgenre of their own. Artists would sometimes express anxiety over whether they would be 'allowed' to draw such extreme designs, but it became widespread in seinen magazines. Gradually, these genre boundaries dissolved and boob size started to become a symbol of characterisation.

Queen's Blade is a fairly longrunning series but as far as I understand, it's broadly a silly ecchi anime about women with very large boobs fighting to become queen. It's not the most comical example of this trope necessarily (nothing can really beat High School of the Dead's supersonic bullet dodging tits) but it's pretty up there.

Colorful, 1999

Colorful is a comedy series of brief (~7 minute) skits about boys trying to see panties and suffering many consequences. As a late 90s anime it's got some interesting stylstic Y2K stuff - look at that rotoscope clip! - as well as strong animation from people like Norio Matsumoto of Naruto fame.

So!

Mogs's encylopedic knowledge of weird obscure horny anime once again coming to the rescue: I'm fascinated to see where this night will take us. And whether I'll still have a Twitch account tomorrow.

I realise this is a much later start than we'd like with such a big programme, but I hope you will come join me for some weirdly educational sexy animation! Dip in and out or stay for the whole programme, the choice is yours - see you at twitch.tv/canmom, going live now, programme starts in about 30 minutes at 22:30 UK time!

Animation Night 169 is gonna be a little postponed - we'll be going at 7pm UK time on Tuesday (29 August) at twitch.tv/canmom! Hope to see you there! I will try to write a little more interesting info as we lead up to that~

[thelediz]

I haven't watched Sonic prime bc something in me went "egh, no" after the first three minutes but when I heard abt Nines I immediately though about how you said Tails could be incredibly dangerous and his relationship with Sonic raised him out of a bad path hehe. I just kind of gauge Sonic and Pokemon stuff through your worldbuilding now lol I can't help it

Asides from that, I wanted to ask your thoughts abt Sonic's relationship with Gaia! You've mentioned you had Thoughts abt it in a couple of posts and it stuck to my mind bc I've always thoughts of Chip as a very one-off character (as in, I like him, but I've never thought of the Gaia mythos outside the context of Unleashed) but since you made a point of highlighting environmentalism in the Lost Prince I'd honestly really love to hear however much or however little you've thought on his relationship with the personification of the planet (both of them, even!)

Let me reassure you that "egh no" is a perfectly valid reaction to any media. Especially the first three minutes of ANY episode.

As to Sonic and environmentalism - honey, don't tempt a 90s kid.

I would argue that finding a balance with nature and sustainability has been part of the Sonic franchise since AT LEAST Sonic CD, if not the very beginning. And Sonic himself has been a literal force of nature since his inception, you just don't get into it very often because his ACTUAL purpose is to show off how the Mega Drive can go very fast with lots of colours, stop thinking about it so much.

(And you are skirting DANGEROUSLY close to my going on a gushing rant about why I love this franchise and the whole concept of controlled chaos. I shall try to contain myself.)

First off. I repeat: the actual purpose of Sonic the Hedgehog was to show off the capabilities of the Mega Drive and the technical skill of Sonic Team. Play any Sonic game on any platform (except 06, Lost World, and Boom, which all had Other Issues) and you will see how that team pushes the hardware to its absolute limit without causing problems. These people are skilled developers and they want you to know about it.

Now let me get madcap about character symbolism and worldbuilding.

Now, there's obviously the whole thing about Robotnik/Eggman being evil technology and polluting the environment, yes, yes, par for the course with half the other villains created in the 90s.

But the thing that made the Sonic franchise different is that Sonic never had any issue with technology AS A CONCEPT. He flies a bi-plane, Tails is an inventor himself, the good future as depicted by the Sonic franchise ALWAYS incorporates both technology and nature, and the whole idea of using chaos as a power source is basically code for sustainable engineering and renewable energy, because CHAOS ITSELF is as natural and inescapable as the sun and the wind and the only way we're going to lose them as a resource is if we -

Okay.

Stop.

Come back to the point.

Sonic's relationship with Gaia and the environment. Great.

Short point to be taken as a given, but which I can understand newer fans not realising because of the world they grew up in: the Sonic franchise, since its inception, has carried a theme of sustainability. You can take this to extremes by pointing out some vaguely anarcho-environmentalist takes about freeing captured animals, but I think it's more about the theming.

Every Sonic game starts in Green Hill Zone or a close equivalent: they're always lush and green and beautiful, and the deeper into Eggman's territory you get, the less naturalism you see. Eggman has gotten better about pollution, but he is always destroying nature in favour of machines. He uses and abuses the resources he finds until they cease to be visible, if not wiped out entirely. He has no thought about what he's going to do when these resources run out. He has no interest in how his desires impact the rest of the world. He just wants to build his theme park, staffed by robots, and anyone who disrupts that plan is impinging on HIS DREAMS and -

-cough-

Anyway.

Meanwhile, while Sonic and Tails use resources, they do so in measured ways, and only ever enough for their needs. In fact, in games like Sonic Colours, the resources (wisps) are actively forcing themselves on Sonic to be used. They transform him, and he just kind of goes along with it.

Because (and this is where I begin to actually answer your question), Sonic is a force of nature himself.

There are many versions of early Sonic lore, and you can take whichever one works for you, but in some of them, Sonic's first appearance in the world was him just... wandering lost in the woods, with no memory and no idea how he got there. He just appeared.

A spirit that appears when influence is needed on the world

Similarly, in most franchises these days, Sonic doesn't... live anywhere. He wanders the earth, he goes where the wind takes him, he isn't trying to do good, necessarily, he just stops the spread of bad when he sees it. In most current franchises, even when he DOES have a fixed address, it's... weird. Basically just a place for him to get out of the rain and store his strange collection of Stuff. Because he doesn't and isn't supposed to exist in the way of 'normal' people. He just is.

A lot of this is tied up in Sonic's relationship to Chaos, but I'd argue that nature and creation are inherently chaotic things. Have you ever seen what happens when a rose or blackberry bush is allowed to grow on its own? Madness! Trees will grow wherever they want, dandelions think a scrap of dirt in concrete is a wonderful spot to start a family, animals don't care about this concept of personal property that you have, and the human body doesn't give a damn about your 'schedule', it has NEEDS, dammit, and YOU ARE NOT PROVIDING THEM.

Go drink something. When was the last time you felt sunlight?

Anyway.

Even in the franchise, Sonic is unique among the characters for his relationship to chaos. All three male hedgehogs can use Chaos Emeralds to turn Super, but Shadow is artificial, and there is an argument that Silver is Shadow's son (don't @ me, I'm not invested and I don't want to get into it. Just accept the Dragon Ball Z reference and move on). Sonic is still an anomaly.

ALSO. Since Sonic Adventure, Chaos has been tied to emotion, and Sonic represents the positive side of that. The Water God Chaos represents the negative side of it. When they do battle, and positivity wins, neither side is destroyed. They just calm down and go away. You can't destroy emotion, you can only -

STOP.

So. If we agree that chaos is a part of nature, and Sonic is inherently tied to chaos, then you can see how Sonic can be read as a LITERAL force of nature. He exists to exert nature's influence and re-establish balance by being a positive chaotic force on the world.

And that's why he can also be inherently problematic because sometimes humans need nature to be controlled in order to live safely and SERIOUSLY LEDIZ STOP

The Adventure series made the subtext supertext, and Unleashed happily made it TEXT, but it's always been there. Sonic has always disrupted manEggman's march over the environment with nothing but his speed and natural resources.

Chip was a one-off character, but he is the continuation of a discussion enforced by Chaos, and then Shadow, and in many ways Metal Sonic, and Merlina, and lately followed up by Sage: personifications of how humans and their technology can disrupt and be disrupted by natural forces. Sonic's continuing triumph over these forces is a reminder that with good intent and effort, we can find a way to survive and maintain a sustainable future.

-DEEP BREATH AS WE EMERGE FROM THE THEORY MINES-

Watch me defend the Sega mandate about who can have a Super form with this madcap theory of mine

Listen to me get all cultural studies about how this ties Sonic into the storybook series because fairytales are implicitly tied to nature fables

The point is, Sonic is tied to nature, and so whenever the planet OR technology is personified, in any way, shape, or form, he WILL have a relationship with it.

And I will go back in my box now, thank you for not getting upset with my ramblings, please.

[azumasoroshi]

dude I just watched spiderman no way home and my brain has been rotting so hard from strange saying something along the lines of "all the people who love you, peter...we'll all forget you existed" and peter's like 👁👄👁

maybe I've read too much fanfiction where stark and strange coparent peter but GOD that hit me right in the feels

dude the second I saw andrew garfield I was like OH. oh THATS why all the tick tick boom posts I was reading were talking about him being in no way home

when he saved mj that also hit me in the feels :(( only able to save his loved ones in a different universe, might use that angst for a fic sometime

tobey maguire caught me way off guard though because see I do not remember celebrity names at all unless they've been memed to death so I thought he looked really familiar but I couldn't put my finger on where

and I was thinking about this from the second he showed up like. I know that guy. I swear I know him

but it only hit me AFTER HE GOT STABBED that he was nick in the great gatsby movie which I watched a few weeks ago after reading the book and I was like OHHHHHHHH

dunno why it took me that long but yknow

I didn't understand why everyone was obsessing over doc ock in the trailer because I had no idea who he was and my only context for anything spiderman related is from the avengers peter parker but the second Peter got control of his machinery I was like oh?? and by the end of the bridge scene I was in love I'm sorry guys I fell for doctor tentacles :(

and when he got imprisoned in the wizard dungeon I was like NOOOOO and then he was talking about how he died and I was like NOOOOOOOOO

but then when may was like "regular water or salt" I realized he was gonna get a redemption arc and I was like YESSSSS

and the he appeared next to mark (that's the name of the lightning guy right) and I was like NOOOOOO and then he helped the spidermans and I was like YESSSSS

is this what it's like to have a skrunkly. a blorbo, mayhaps

I think he would make a cool uncle for peter and he will absolutely be the one I watch the most YouTube clips about and I also have a newfound appreciation for the doc ock in into the spiderverse

(also the second I saw mark?'s face after he was first decommissioned I immediately thought of the meme of the lightning guy and barely held back from laughing because I actually thought he was the source of the meme for a second

which he's not. right? if he is I'm gonna feel so stupid)

mmmm what elseeee

wong and strange were great as always and I love their winter outfits, reminded me of how anime characters get summer/winter outfits pff

I deadass forgot that mysterio died...I think? they mentioned that somewhere in the film I think but yeah I thought he was gonna pop up at some point and screw everything over

I thought Ned and MJ were gonna be dating at the end and I was like OOOOOOOOOF but I dont think that was the case lmAO

in conclusion I am a newly recruited doc ock simp, my long-dormant ironstrange heart has been reawakened and I can FINALLY unmute the no way home tag on twitter and tumblr and browse to my heart's content :D

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

So I rewatched Raya.

And I was really trying to watch it without a skeptical lens. I wanted to be able to act like the oblivious kids in that theater and just enjoy the movie. But I just couldn't. I've mentioned it before it's a gorgeous movie but there are so many things wrong with it that just bug me. And I’ve mentioned before the changes that could be made to fix it and the main one being just completely scrapping the movie and starting from scratch with a tv show. And because I’m on spring break and I have nothing to do (also I’m a perfectionist and I tend to hyper-fixate on things that I know have easy solutions) I broke down how I would make it better in two different categories. The first one being kind of baseline stuff like animation and character designs and other stuff I had small problems with and the second being plot.

Section One:

Okay so I know we all hate Sisu’s design. As someone who grew up with Naga carvings and paintings all around my house seeing this Elsa fursona was like a slap to the face. Like I know I really shouldn’t expect more from Disney but I did. I mentioned in this post that I would have loved to see a longer series even if it meant the animation quality went down. And I feel like Neeith_ on TikTok did a great job of drawing what Sisu could have looked like which only disappointed me more. Caldatelier on Twitter also pointed out the many flaws with Raya’s outfit design which fully proved to me that Disney did little to no research and chose style points over historical accuracy. I also felt like the designs of the main characters were very unremarkable and before you’re like “that the whole point it’s supposed to be normal people saving the world” I don't mean that I mean it feels like they took previous designs and just made them Asian. Like my sister and I were talking about it and she said the baby just reminded her of the boss baby and Tong reminded her of one of the twins from rapunzel with a little more depth. This is also kind of a small thing but it kind of bugged me that they were all the same skin tone if not lighter. SEA is incredibly diverse and if they weren’t going to represent all of the cultures in full then they could at least shown their features. I feel like the food should have been more important. I know I mentioned it in my last post but food is an incredibly important part of our culture. It’s not a placeholder or a set-piece to make a scene look more aesthetically pleasing. It’s a way for us to bond and show each other we care it’s a way we show genuine love and appreciation. And when you have a main character who is emotionally stunted it felt like food was a perfect way for her to show her love and they blew it. Like can you imagine Raya and her dad getting into huge fights and then bringing each other food as an apology sitting in front of that window not needing to say a word because they simply get each other? Can you imagine Raya visiting Namaari and stocking up on foods that she knows Namaari loves but also hasn’t been able to eat for a while? We could have had genuinely heartwarming scenes centered around food but instead, we got set pieces and props. And one more thing that stuck with me was the voice acting this movie should have been a change for SEA voice actors to really put their names out there and be a part of a really big Disney project but as always out voiced were overshadowed by someone lighter.

Section Two:

(I’m going to warn you this is gonna be really long because I’m essentially rewriting the entire plot because as I said before I’m a perfectionist)

I feel like the first ep should be dedicated to the backstory and the lore

How were the Druuns made how where they defeated

I feel like it would have been interesting to see them fighting over the gem

But I think it would have been really interesting to see from the get-go how Sisu wasn’t the one who made the gem

So instead of having this big reveal alongside Raya, we would know that her hope of finding this all powerful Naga is hopeless because the story was a lie

Another thing I think another person who should have had more screentime was Raya’s dad

I think it would have been interesting to know his backstory and get some questions answered like “why does he have so much faith in the other rulers to help him on his journey to make Kumandra a thing?” “When did he become the protector of the gem?” “And how many attempts of stealing the gem has he thwarted”

Also as much as I love him I feel like his personality incredibly unrealistic because all SEA men I’ve met have been really emotionally stunted

Idk it’s just a small thing that made me go “eh he talks to his daughter. What kind of magic world is this?”

I would have liked to see Raya’s various attempts at becoming a protector of the gem

I think it would have been a really good way to show how resilient she is from a very young age

And when she finally succeeds the audience could have celebrated with her like a small “yes she finally got it and all her hard work finally paid off” moment

I feel like we should have gotten more Raya and Namaari moments right from the start

Like how they meet is basically the same but Raya doesn’t trust her with the gem’s location an hour after meeting her

It's a trust that both of them fought for in their own way

Like you get to see them bond over their mutual understanding of “well the worlds fucked”

So when Namaari finally stabs Raya in the back when she betrays her for the first time it hurts when she says the throwaway line about them being friends in another world in burns Raya

Because she thought they were friends and she genuinely trusted Namaari

Which would have really justified her distrust in the world

And again I feel like we should have seen that 6 year period of Raya trying to find Sisu

We would get to experience the frustration of building up the hope of finally finding her just to have it knocked down when she’s not there

It could also do two more things

Raya making genuine connections with people

And Raya and Namaari’s strange alliance forming

Now for the first one, I feel like it would have been really cool for Raya to be introduced to the different lands

And yeah sure I feel like it would make her feel like kind of a tourist but I feel like it would be really interesting to see her go through culture shock

Because she really thought she knew these places but boom they’re completely different from what she was told

And while she’s making her way around she learns about the different lands and the people inhabiting them and also their culture

We could have seen Raya make genuine connections outside of the main cast

And if you’re feeling a little masochistic we could see her lose those people because of the druune or simply because they died

But the main point is we would be able to see her become less and less selfish

Now back to Raya and Namaari’s alliance/romance later on

I mentioned in my other post that when Raya trusted Namaari to put the gem back together it felt very flat very fake

So I feel like it would be cool for the series to be split into two parts the first part being from Raya’s perspective and the second part being Namaari’s

I also feel like Namaari would have to be a constant in Raya’s journey

And what I mean by that is like she’s there every other episode either trying to stop Raya or she’s trying to save her from life or death situations

And later on down the line, we find out the main reason why she kept helping Raya (in her own way) was that she didn’t want to see her get seriously hurt

But anyway that’s mostly backstory and now we’re in the present tense

And like I said before we know that Sisu wasn’t the one who made the gem so we know that Raya’s quest is pointless

But because we’ve seen her various attempts at becoming the protector of the gem and the six years of looking for Sisu we know she’s too stubborn to give up just yet

So she and Sisu head out to find the other gem pieces

Now with context, her and Namaari’s standoff has more tension because for the first time in years Namaari doesn’t know the motives behind Raya’s actions

I don’t really have many ideas for Sisu other than she starts to trust people less and less

Like she’s still really innocent for the most part but there’s a small part of her a really small part that’s kind of lost faith in humanity

And after this, we meet Boun

I feel like we should have known more about Boun considering the fact he’s the first side characters we met

But it’s very clear they gave no thought to his character I’m sure they just wrote down “funny kid who lost his family”

This is such a shame because he could have been so much more than just “Raya’s funny younger brother”

Like he could have been this selfless kid who hands out food to the orphans around and offering his ship to homeless people during the night

Next with the baby and the monkeys, there’s really not much you can do with them unless you seriously age them up

Like at the very least have Noi be a grade-schooler who can express more emotions than mad and hungry

Like she can still be the baby of the group while taking care of herself and expressing her emotions a great example of this is Polly from amphibia (which is a great show with a SEA main character you should check it out)

With Tong, I have two words: Survivors Guilt which is something Raya would be able to relate to in fact they all would

I feel like Tong’s entire character arc would be him realizing that he can’t save everyone

Which yeah sure would seem pretty contradictory with the ending being them literally saving everybody but I have a fix for that too

And finally, we get to Namaari who is selfless to a fault

Giving me very much typical Disney princess she gives up food to kids who seem particularly hungry

She’s usually the one who tells the stories to the kids but her mom was taking over that day

She helps her people in any way she can and honestly, she’s wearing herself a little thin

Because while she’s doing all that she’s also saving Raya & co from their own mistakes

Giving me very much burning the candle at both ends

So you see all these characters bonding over the course of at least a year

Making and losing more allies along the way

And because Namaari has been helping them they trust her… for the most part

But there have been times when she trips them up and makes their end goal all the more difficult

And because they haven’t known her as long as Raya has each character has at least one moment when they look up at the sky and scream in frustration “What is this binturi’s deal!”

But anyway they finally get to fang and Raya is more open to the idea of just talking to Namaari because she trusts her not because Sisu told her to but because she’s seen Namaari do good

And Namaari is even more reluctant to take the gem pieces by force because she has a decent relationship with Raya like yeah sure they’re not best friends but they’re in a good place

And shocker shocker she’s maybe just maybe head over heels in love with the princess of heart

But her mother gives her an ultimatum and that is “either you take it from her or I will”

Because here’s the thing, Queen Virana isn't a moron the exact opposite in fact and she knows her daughter has been going easy on Raya these past six years

She also knows that she could squash Raya under her shoe if she damn well pleased and Namaari knows this too

So when Namaari gets her necklace back she doesn’t even hesitate to take her crossbow when she leaves

The meet up goes basically the same except its more Raya talking Namaari down than Sisu

And while they’re having their little heart to heart Sisu notices Namaari’s finger twitch and she goes to jump in front of Raya

And Namaari was shaken by the sudden movement and fires and kills Sisu

I feel like this would make Raya furious for two reasons one she killed her best friend and two she deep down trusted Namaari to do the right thing

So when the fight goes down instead of the whole “I don't care if you trust me because Sisu did” it would be “I trusted you and you murdered her”

And when the dust settles Raya realizes that this battle doesn’t matter because fighting Namaari isn’t going to bring Sisu and she’s also sick and tired of hurting the people she loves

And she decides to help people instead not because Sisu would want her to but because its the right thing to do

Which is cliche sure but its better than the scene they gave us which really wasn’t faithful to her character arc of not caring for people who aren't close to her

And I feel like Namaari joining her makes more sense with my context if anything else

And here’s how I would fix this scene even with them fighting the Druune off to the best of their abilities there are still falling buildings and the gem can’t really save people from that

So they lose some people not because of the Druune but because death happens even when the heroes are fighting their hardest

And because I feel like this would just affirm Tong’s character arc because there are people dying under these buildings he knows it’ll take too long to save them and its not time they have

So he leaves them behind prioritizing the people he knows he can save

Anyway, after a long battle scene, they finally end up underground

And it goes basically the same except it doesn’t take Raya as long to convince them

And instead of Raya’s reasoning of “Sisu told us to” it's more “all this fighting isn't going to bring Sisu back” and “I know she’s done something terrible and you can be mad at her after this but for now trust her”

So when they all make their sacrifices it’s less “I’m doing this for Raya” and more “I’m doing this because deep down I know you’ll do the right thing”

And Namaari does do the right thing obviously

Sisu comes back and it's all “yay we saved the world!” but it doesn’t really end there

Because I hate the “lifetime” ending of “even though we all went through incredibly traumatic events we’re all fine months later” no they’re running around for months and years fixing their mess

And while this is happening Raya and Namaari is mending their relationship they’ve apologized for all the terrible things they’ve done to each other

And when they’re fixing their world they’re helping each other become the best versions of themselves

That’s when they really fall in love

Like don't get me wrong they loved each other when all the bad shit was going down but there was too much bad blood them to really process it and talk it out

But that’s exactly what they do when it’s all over they talk it out for hours

In fact, they both said its the most they’ve heard the other speak

They both agree they’re in the best place to start a relationship and so they do

[ihatetaxes99]

A Brief Retrospective Look At MVA (In The Anime)

Well. Here we are. Every end of the time is another begun. After what has felt like years of anticipation (mostly because it actually has been years), My Villain Academia has been fully animated. Well, "fully" may be the wrong word here, but that's something I'll get into later.

To honour the end of the arc, I decided to do two things: One, I re-read the entirety of the arc in the manga all in one sitting; Two, I rewatched all five episodes of the anime's adaptation back to back once again. My life is pain and I know not of sleep. Anyway, the reason I did this is because of a little project I proposed to myself back just before the first episode aired; Once MVA was done and dusted, I would go back and give my own retrospective on the whole thing. Because why the hell not, sounds like fun. This will also hopefully be less emotional than my thoughts I shared as the episodes were still airing, but who knows?

So, let's begin. And I wish to start by stating that My Villain Academia is my absolute favourite arc in the manga. It did a lot of things right. It focused entirely on my favourite faction, the villains. It offers a glimpse into their lives and goes a long way in humanising them, particularly Spinner and Shigaraki. It sets up key points for others too, such as Mr. Compress' habit of thinking more about the bigger picture than the others, which would factor into his major reveal during the Paranormal Liberation War and of course the formation of the Front itself. It introduced us to Rikiya Yotsubashi, one of my favourite characters in the manga, even if he honestly peaked in this arc and was never as good again. And it gave us a large-scale, grueling fight for supremacy in which I found myself actively rooting for the League. It is, in my mind, the very best of BNHA, the only arc I would want them to do well in the anime. They could screw up literally everything else and I would be happy if MVA was even just as good as the manga, it didn't even need to be better. I would have been delighted to have an excuse to experience the arc all over again, seeing my favourite moments with the sublime soundtrack and voice acting.

Yeah… 

But before I get to that, let us take a little trip of sorts down memory lane to see the road to MVA, what led to it. So, 2021 rolls around. What a fun year. It's just 2020 without the excitement of everything being so uncertain, and frankly it's been really fucking boring as a year. However, BNHA Season Five was announced. In February, we get the first trailer for the upcoming season. It's... It's fine. Obviously, it focuses heavily on the Joint Training Arc (in fact, that is all it shows) and although I despise that arc with a passion, it's not too bad. I had not watched the anime since Overhaul ended, so my plan was I just wouldn't watch JTA and would wait until the big attraction, MVA. And so, Joint Training starts. And it goes on. And on. And on. I checked back almost two months later to discover it still wasn't over yet. Now I found this odd. Joint Training Arc was horrible for many reasons, but the big one was that it dragged on for so long as a result of Horikoshi's health complications, which is by no means his fault. But, surely the anime, which would consistently release on a weekly basis, wouldn't have the issues associated with this. Episodes of BNHA have always encompassed around three to five chapters, and Joint Training's were shorter than usual, so why was it taking more than ten episodes to adapt it? 

Very strange, but I didn't question it much. Then, the key visuals released, confirming that MVA was at the very least happening. Great, wonderful. I love it. We've got the whole gang there, seeming like they're in Deika, looks pretty good.

Wait, did I say whole gang? Yeah, my bad, there was someone missing. Spinner. Now, I am not the biggest Spinner fan so I wasn't prepared to riot over his exclusion like I would have been if Compress wasn't in it. But this was starting to get strange. Spinner was the main narrator of MVA. Even if his importance was not on the level of Shigaraki, Twice and Toga, it was certainly more than Dabi and Compress, who did both appear in the art. Why was he excluded? Obviously, I bet you're all having a good old chuckle to yourselves right now because in retrospect, this makes perfect sense now.

Alright, then. I heard from a friend around June time that Joint Training was finally over. Awesome, great, time for the good stuff- why is there a Christmas episode here?

Yes, this was probably what really started to get the alarm bells in my mind going. The Christmas episode- in June. Very, very strange. Also, absolutely no mention of Rikiya, which even if they were reshuffling things, I would have expected him to appear in the episode of Bakugo and Todoroki getting their licenses, since it directly ties in. Concern levels rising, I shrugged it off and waited for next week.

Bam. Major reshuffling. Now, Endeavour Agency comes first, fuck you if you want context for who the hell the PLF are or the significance of Destro's memoirs. This was really starting to worry me now. I told myself that the key visual meant that MVA had to be happening, but it was starting to seem like the villains were being shafted. A fact not helped by the new OP.

Look, I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain or whine, but season five's second OP is just bad. The music is fine, I have no problem there. But the visuals are just awful. Not only is there an extended focus on that stupid bloody trio of Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki, not only is there more screentime given to characters who don't appear in MVA or EA than the main cast of the former, but the animation itself is just so stiff and lacking. It had potential, but the visuals are the worst out of any recent anime opening I've seen in a good few years and this was what got me really panicking.

Boom, a beach episode smack in the middle of Endeavour Agency to promote the upcoming movie. Boom, adapting two chapters per episode during EA. Boom, the Shirakumo episode, which I always thought was part of the War Arc and not EA. But finally, mercifully, the title leaks came and it was revealed that episode 20 of season five would be the start of MVA.

20. Out of 25. And it was pretty obvious that they weren't going to end the season with MVA, so really, up to 24. Ohhh no…

But hey, I'm an optimist sometimes. I was excited to just finally be clear of all this nonsense and get to the real good stuff. Hell, in preparation, I watched the entirety of the season up to that point. I finally realised why JTA took so long and it's one of the most depressing things I've ever learned, in a bad way. Were all those flashbacks really necessary? EA was okay, as someone who as a manga reader, already had the necessary context for the PLF stuff. The beach episode, I watched half of, got too bored and skipped the rest of. And you know what, I liked the Shirakumo chapters. They weren't as good in the anime, but it was nice to see.

And then, finally, in comes episode one of My Villain Academia, on a cold, dark August morning. I even bought Crunchyroll Premium to watch it as soon as possible, I was excited. All the messing around, all the crap, it was finally over and the time had come to enjoy what this season was really all about.

I can now safely say why Bones kept pushing back MVA, because if I was them, I would be embarrassed to show this.

No, that's not fair. I promised I wouldn't get too snarky, so let's reek things back in. As a whole, MVA has been… fine. Just fine. Not good enough to justify the bullshit, but not horrendous (mostly.) In fact, right now, I'll give a ranking of the episodes, my worst to best:

5) Episode One 

4) Episode Two

3) Episode Three

2) Episode Five

1) Episode Four

Yeah. So, there's a clear pattern here, that things more or less got better as time went on. From just straight up bad, to still not great, to alright, to the final two episodes being what I would comfortably call good. This is not a good look. I'm sorry, but Episode One, an episode that I just called bad, is still one of the season's best in spite of that. That spells out awful things for this season as a whole. But what exactly made this such a disaster?

Well, cut content is the big thing. MVA in the anime cuts out:

The League's battle with the CRC

Their struggle with poverty

The sushi joke setup

All of Spinner's character

All of Rikiya's character, including most mentions of Detnerat and Miyashita

Fairly integral pieces of Skeptic's character

Most of Giran's integrity and bravery

This doesn't look too bad at first. It could be far worse. We got basically everything else from the arc, so what? Well, I would already be annoyed about all of these cuts, but the issue is that they cause a knock on effect. Without the establishment of the League's poverty, the payoff of Toga's duffle coat now makes no sense. Without the setup of Spinner's characterisation, his battle with Hanabata now feels hollow. Rikiya's surrender to the League now makes even less sense, as his love of human life and desire to cause no more death is completely non-existent. The first time Rikiya being a CEO is mentioned is in the closing minutes of the arc. The sushi scene is hamfisted into a two second flashback just so that the payoff makes some sort of sense, but again, it is hollow without it being at the start (this is also the first mention of the League's poverty and it literally happens just as they are freed from it.) Can you see how these little seemingly unimportant cuts spiral into bigger problems? I would have been pissed even if they hadn't caused some tremendous cascades, but the fact that they did just makes this from a subjective issue to an objective one.

Yes. They did some things well. Toga's backstory is mostly intact, SMP is just as satisfying as the manga, Tenko's backstory is one of the best things the anime has ever done, the awakening is very well done, I adore the PLF formation as much as I did in the manga. Everything important is intact, but as I keep saying, you cannot just keep the bare minimum and expect it to work. How about in the next arc, they decide to cut everything involving Bakugo out, and only keep him jumping in front of Midoriya because it's the only absolutely necessary thing he does in the arc? People would be pissed, and it's the same thing that's happening here. It's a problem, it's not just a bad adaptation, it leads to bad storytelling in general.

The animation. Now, I do not believe this is a be all, end all. BNHA's anime is never going to look as gorgeous as Horikoshi's art, that is a fact and I do not begrudge them for that. They have a week to draw hundreds upon hundreds of frames, it's not a process that lends itself well to good looks and the animators and artists do their best with what they have. This does not change the fact that it is extremely hit or miss. Some things, Tenko's backstory in particular, look fantastic. Other things, mostly every action scene, make me laugh at how bad they can look and some things, particularly Twice and Re-Destro's hideous designs in the anime, make me cringe. The lighting is also an issue. Garaki's lab looked fantastic, but every other scene is just boring mid-afternoon with dull, basic lighting. I don't expect huge detail, but sometimes, it fails to achieve competency and as an extremely popular show, I don't think that's okay. I don't blame the animators, I blame the higher ups. And while I wouldn't mind the poor animation and art in an MVA that at least has all the story content, this does not have that and so I am even harsher than I would have been.

MVA was rushed. That's not up for debate. It took forever to get to it and once it came, things moved so quickly that they gave me whiplash, with no time to think or lament. Now, this could be attributed to the story structure of the arc, which is essentially a series of big fights, and it just isn't as bad in the manga because I can stop at any time to catch my breath. But I think it's worth noting that the anime at least highlights these issues. Curious dies in the same episode where she first appears, really driving home how pointless she was in the end. Episode Two alone tries to cover everything from the journey to Deika up until Jin finding Toga's body. That's a lot of content to fit in one twenty minute period and it was bound to feel messy in the end. I will say that, much like everything aside from the animation, this did get better as time went on, with episodes three, four and five adapting more reasonable amounts of content, compared to one giving us almost nothing and two giving us too much.

At the end of the day, that was it. The show's over. MVA has been closed in the anime. It will never be given a chance to improve, to go from just fine to anything even close to the manga. Why did this happen? I don't think we'll ever truly know. Some blame the new movie, others the studio's lack of faith in the villains, and there are those who say that it's just how fate turned out. I personally think it's a combination of all of these things. Without the movie, that beach episode wouldn't exist, giving more time to MVA, without the studio's hesitation, we'd perhaps get stuff like an actual good OP and perhaps some more general hype for it (I mean, MVA didn't even get a trailer.) Whatever the reason is, we got what we got. My verdict is something that's very overplayed as of late, but seriously, just read the manga with the fantastic soundtrack playing in the background. The anime's adaptation of MVA is not worth the time investment, when you could read the manga in roughly the same length of time and get more content, a more coherent plot and beautiful artwork.

So, what may come next for Season Six? I don't know. Season Five has definitely been one of the most unpopular seasons in the anime, with a lot of people speaking out against it, but this mostly seems to come from the Western fanbase, so it's up in the air if Bones will learn from their mistakes. Since they'll have a full season to do presumably the War and Rouge Deku arcs, then I feel like they'll put on a better show. But we just don't know. Spinner had his spotlight stolen this time around, will Compress suffer the same fate in Season Six? Dabi and Toga will probably be handled well, since they have inexplicably high amounts of popularity, but with his own lack of recognition rivalling Spinner's, I can see Sako ending up much the same way. Time will tell, I suppose.

[vegalocity]

Autistic hcs blz, but to start small do it with your top three favs

Okay so My top three ‘this character is The Autism and you can’t change my Mind’ right now is

Usagi Tsukino

So Usagi is both my Top Pick and my Oldest of the headcanons, And like everything in the classic anime backs me up, her hyperempathy leading to so many of her final villains getting redeemed or at least allowed to repent;

She’s canonically a flappy stimmer, the 90s cartoon gave us a bunch of moments where she’d get excited and start pumping her arms in circular motions

She’s probably got an SI in the romance genre, like... lbr even long after she knows what its like to actually BE in a relationship those romance overtures are things she’s SO invested in that it’s the quickest way to get her all starry eyed.

and, oh yeah considering the school stuff, the jokes are often about Usagi being lazy, but when she does try for her grades it’s openly shown that she honestly does have problems with who the lessons are taught as well as her lack of interest int he subject manner, her grades don’t start improving until Ami starts really tutoring her and likely changing up HOW to explain the lessons to the poor girl.

Usagi is hyperempathetic yes, but she also has a very difficult time in reading people, usually unable to see if she’s pushing a line until someone’s hurt over it, and then doing everything she can to make it better.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Ya girl Marinette is a Bounce Stimmer, all the time she bouncing up and down in canon so hell yeah that's her Stim. She’s got an SI in fashion because yes of course, And the lateral thinking that leads in to is in part why her plans are so... macguyver for lack of a better word.

She’s hyperemathetic which is why she’s so forgiving with people despite at certain points they may not actually deserve it. And is probably so used to the idea that she’s not understood that she is more likely to apologize for something that’s not her fault

Red Son

So Red Son’s my newest of the headcanons (for obvious reasons) but because I‘M SI-ing super hard onto Monkie Kid it means i’m doing a lot of projecting onto the boy.

And unlike Marinette or Usagi he doesn’t get the luxury of being in a stable enough household that he got to be ‘the weird kid’ and thus be allowed to just do his own thing. and as we all know disability only exists in the context of its evironment so it’s likely it wasn’t even seen as odd until the context around him began to change.

I mean there were probably SOME things that were always evident. his parents probably found any stims he’d end up with odd, I personally see him as a rocking type. I think i’ve also mentioned flapping in a couple of fics, as an exclusively happy stim (cuz who doesn’t love Happy Flapping?) and its possible he’s bee into machinery and robots basically since machinery and robotics existed as concepts lol

So he’s had centuries for that SI to expand to everything he can expand it to. His skills in inventing and tinkering, probably a splinter interest in science fiction because it’s the best place to get new ideas for projects (Try and tell me his ‘vehicles with ridiculous transformations’ weren’t because he watched transformers when the 80s rolled around and was like ‘i can make that bUT BETTER’) Most likely another splinter interest in practical effects in movies because that was where a lot of cutting edge for the era animatronics ended up, and every new idea and concept would then get recycled into his own projects.

And then that lead to ‘try to use science on magic and see what happens’ and bing bang boom inciting incident of the series

[kuroopaisen]

@kacchand (i couldn't tag your main but i wanted to make sure you saw this fdlkjfdlkj) 

hello dear! i’m sorry it took me so long to respond to this dflskjfdlkfdj i decided to answer your ask in a text post so i can link my thoughts to yours more easily! also, i know i'm going to Ramble, so i wanted to be able to keep it under a cut sdlkfjd

Hi rowan!! I've just finished the final chapter of aot and I just wanted to ask your opinion on it!

(SPOILERS THAT DEPICT MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE STORY'S MEANING AHEAD. READ ONLY IF YOU'VE FINISHED THE CHAPTER)

(FR )

(THERE'S STILL TIME TO BACK OUT)

(DO IT NOW. SPOILER ALERT)

I'd also like to ask a follow up question about it, because it seems that I've come to a different concl. from many of my friends and I'm feeling dumb abt how i feel w it.

first of all (and i say this as sincerely as possible, and if i'm coming off as condesending please let me know hh), please don't feel dumb because you've come to a different conclusion :(

we all read media at different levels (i’ve been told it’s ‘not that deep’ before fdljkfsdlkj) and identify different aspects in it, so the fact that you've had a different experience to some of your friends is absolutely not a reflection on your intelligence. and if anyone's making you feel that way, drop their @. i just want to talk :) furthermore, you’re not wrong for responding to something emotionally, especially if it really... makes you uncomfortable, you know? 

i'm from the PH & I've put off determining whether i'm comfy w the manga til the last chap,,,, but is it wrong that I can't shake the feeling that it's a justification of japanese expansionism and genocide? ik this manga has always been in the grey area, and that's what I love abt it! It often shows that no choice they make is absolutely good or bad, and does such a good job at showing you how each complex character came to that understanding (role of environment, etc...) but this last chapter felt too positive abt the rumbling? Like it was justified because paradis was able to advance and there wasn't much choice? idk.

that's totally valid! some of the best think pieces on the show i read mentioned that the concern with the narrative is less "is isayama a nazi sympathiser?" (he most likely isn't), but if he's a imperial japan apologist. and...

well, let's just say that my father is british, and when i was trying to say that colonisation was bad, using british india as an example, he said "well, we gave them railroads." it's... it's uncomfortable and gross and i think it encapsulates how countries with imperial pasts tend to talk about them; even if they don't officially endorse it, there's often a lot of talk about how "well colonialism was good for this country, actually--"

and if the manga felt like it was justifying japanese expansionism, then chances are it had elements that very much did point towards that. i've had a lot of trouble grappling with reiner, annie and bertolt, because they've existed in this grey area of 'victim of oppression' and 'war criminal'; and their existence raises the question of "do people who commit war crimes simply do what needs to be done?" and by victimising them it... it plays into the whole nuremberg defense of "i was just following orders". it's making you feel bad for the people committing said war crimes (and similarly with eren, and all the awful things he's done). but i'll get more into this point later dsfkjfd

i haven't read the last chapter yet (and don't worry about spoilers! i've been approaching aot from a very... specific perspective anyway, so i actually don't mind spoilers -- i read a bunch of analyses of the series before i'd even watched it hh), but... i think if it came off as too positive about, you know... an awful thing that happened, then it absolutely makes sense that you'd feel uncomfortable?

the modernisation narrative in general is one that always skeeves me out. it's one japanese imperialists use to justify the invasion of korea (and even those infamous tweets from the one account purported to be isayama talk about how the population of korea boomed under japanese imperial occupation, which... stop.)

it's also commonly invoked in cases of development. certain members of society (usually the poor), just 'had' to die for the good of the future. who gives a damn if they consent to that? they have to.

similarly, the 'we had no choice' narrative. that's... a concerning one that crops up time and again with history apologists, the argument that "oh if x country hadn't done y, then someone else would've!" or that acts of aggression were done as pre-emptive self-defence, which is so... ugh. i just. i just hate it.

It also feels really weird w the ymir and the whole loving fritz thing. i wish we got to see more of her thought process and what conclusion she came to that led her to destroying the power of the titans.

i... hate this so much. i get that abuse is complicated and victims often have multifaceted feelings towards their abusers, but... most people would focus on that in their story? the story would be about that? but instead, it's just... a thing in the history of the world and that's... icky.

also having the genesis of the titans come from a slave girl in love with her captor... there's many levels of ick to it and i highly doubt it was handled with the appropriate level of grace and sensitivity.

honestly, this might be one of the things that pissed me off the most because of how... contradictory her backstory was with That One Chapter (you know, instead of ymir crying because she wants to be free or because she’s been trapped she........ wants to see mikasa kiss eren’s decapitated head? i guess? what the fuck?) 

idk...I just think that context is sometimes everything. and i understand that media can portray incorrect things,,,, and that isayama likely didn't intend for it to become a global sensation, but i guess i'm just uncomfortable w the right wing nazis getting a comfort book ahaha.

i totally get that! even if attack on titan is meant to be anti-fascists, the fact of the matter is... a lot of fascists love it. and relate to it. which is... alarming. especially given just how popular aot is worldwide.

it’s hard because before the ending, attack on titan did feel like it was more grey; i remember saying that i wouldn’t know how to feel about it until the ending because the story was either saying “the military is corrupt and war is hell”, or it was saying “the military is corrupt and war is hell, but it is necessary.” 

still sorting out my thoughts, but yeah. I think i'm having a hard time understanding what they really accomplished with the rumbling and how they gave eren a sudden lelouch role and a lot of how they made it out to be a happy thing? perhaps I'm too biased to see it fully but to me it gives a "woah. eren was a hero. he saved us from destruction. those people needed to die for us to achieve this temporary peace and new start". i suppose the rumbling gave them a levelled playing ground?

OH MY GOOOOOD okay. i haven't finished code geass. but i really don't like lelouch. i mean... i think i just don't like characters that sacrifice other people for a purported 'greater good' (i could write an Essay about how much i hate erwin smith looking at him is enough to send me into an unhinged rage), but where i'm up to in the anime, i don't like the direction they're going with eren? i mean, i've never liked eren, but... that whole "martyr for the eldians" is just. ew. especially when you see several eldian characters disagree and resist him. 

why does this one guy get to make choices for everyone else? because he’s sPeCiAL? fuck off 

sorry for not being coherent. maybe i'm basing this too much on feelings ahaha. trust aot to finish it's scandalous run with a scandalous end.

no omg you're being perfectly coherent :( also, if anyone's making you feel bad or stupid for how you experience media, they’re... definitely not as smart as they think they are fdslskjfdlk. 

i'm of that mind that, while media consumption is in part an intellectual exercise, it is inherently very emotional; narrative media tries to make us feel as much as it makes us think. that’s what stories are for, you know? intellectual analysis is well and good but what’s the point of a story if it doesn’t make you feel anything?

that's to say, i don't believe there's such thing as basing your opinion too much on feelings :') especially since it's your personal experience with a piece of media; you don't owe anyone 'objectivity' (which is always a farce when it comes to this sort of thing) or 'logical analysis', because nobody's got any right to criticise you for engaging with media the 'wrong way'.

tl;dr I feel like the mood was too celebratory abt the rumbling, and didn't entail enough on the tragedy so much that it felt like a justification for genocide and expansionism. how do you feel abt it's ending and the message it leaves? is isayama responsible to give a morally correct answer to the cycle of hatred? you're not obligated to answer! and sorry for the rambling.

hhh yeah i guess that’s the thing at the end of the day... is isayama responsible for giving a “morally correct” answer? no, but the way the ending plays out is very telling. 

like armin thanking eren? mikasa’s e n t i r e character boiling down to being in love with a mass murderer no matter how poorly he’s treated her? and one could argue that kind of ending is supposed to be unsettling, supposed to hint that the cycle will just continue, but...

framing is everything. and it’s framed like a Good, Emotional Thing, Aren’t We So Grateful Eren Did All Those Awful Things 

YI think I would've been fine if we got to see more of Eren's or Yif you have a different perspective on how eren is being portrayed please do share! I just felt really yucky watching armin say "thanks for murdering all those people for us" with love,,, I suppose he was trying to make eren feel better. ach maybe I'm just overreacting. idk. im dumb ahaha . i'll send this in anyway cuz I'd love to hear your take!

HHHHHHH i just hate eren and i never got him. i felt bad for him in the beginning, but he's always been too... violent for me. there was a very short period of time in season 2 where i felt bad for him, but otherwise it’s just been... ugh. the main three have always been the weakest part of the series imo, so it’s really not surprising they’re part of the reason the ending was so. bad. 

and... well, that one infamous quote pretty much sums up my issue with armin. he's supposed to be the 'intelligent' one, but he's hopelessly devoted to a homicidal maniac with whom he has a very artificial, unbelievable bond with.

at the end of the day, the "thank you for becoming our monster" thing just makes it seem like attack on titan's core message is "war is horrible, but it is necessary." it feels like it's justifying massacre. and while fiction is fiction, and sometimes it's as simple as that, i think something as politically loaded as attack on titan needs to be looked at with a critical lens when discussing what it’s trying to say or what it means. 

do i think it makes someone a Bad Person for liking aot or being attached to it in some way? no, because that’s dumb, and what media someone likes =/= their Moral Goodness TM. ofc trends are a thing and certain pieces of media appeal to certain types of people, but it’s a false equivalency that misses the point. 

but by that same breath, nobody is wrong or stupid or has Less Valid Opinions just because what they took away from it makes them uncomfortable. 

i’m sorry this is So Long i have so many thoughts about this dskljfslkj 

but at the end of the day, 

levi sexy

[ladywhaiyvern]

Musings of An Otaku #3: Otaku vs. Weebo?

As someone who has been into Japanese animation since 1997 and other aspects of Japanese culture longer before that with Americanized Super Sentai. I stumbled upon a little glorious movie playing on the Sci-Fi Channel’s Saturday Morning Anime block- “Tenchi in Love: the Movie,” due to my boredom of watching the same rerun of “Power Rangers” at the time. I fell in love with the detailed artwork of the characters, the intricate backgrounds, the music composed and the overall story. I had not seen anything like it in an American produced cartoon series or cartoon movie. I was around when Anime was basically non-existent on store shelves. Not a single manga issue could be found in a library or local book store. VHS titles were sold in very selective stores with 1 or 2 episodes per tape. And forget about wanting to change the language track. You either had to find the dubbed video tape or the subbed video tape. No easy button switching back then! And for television- no station openly aired Anime (outside of the Sci-fi channel). Some movies such as “Ninja Scroll” aired on pay-per-view movie channels late at night. No Toonami existed. 

Anime was obscure in America. Hell, I remember going to my local video store and asking if they had anymore titles of “Dirty Pair Flash” (as I had found the first vhs volume there). The look the store clerk gave me was priceless. Thought I was probably talking about a porno or something! Shit, I was into Anime and was made fun of by my fellow students in Middle School and High School because it was different. Now it’s main-stream and all over the place. One can walk into big box stores and find manga titles in the book section, dvd/blu-rays openly on the sales floor, merch like shirts and toys. Now you have dedicated sections on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and not to mention streaming services from Chrunchyroll, Funimation and HiDive that focus on nothing but Anime. But what does all this reminiscing have to do with my title?! Simple.

During the birth of the Japanese Anime boom here in the United States, us select fans had gathered together and decided to call ourselves a name. Granted, the origins of this name were very negative in the Japanese culture. As “otaku” was viewed as a socially inept individual. A subculture of Japanese society that was viewed as being derogatory. A fan of any subgenre of entertainment (not just Anime). However, we adapted this word and started using it. We took away that negative stereotype. We started using it to represent a group of people who not only enjoyed Japanese Animation, but other forms of Japanese entertainment as well. It was an umbrella term for “fan.” It wasn’t meant as someone who lived and breathed anime and manga. They weren’t obsessed over it. They were just fans who enjoyed the art form. Now, I know in the early 2000’s- many Japanese still looked at the term as being negative and probably thought of us as being crazy for wanting to adapt such a term. But we were proud to be called otaku. We were not embarrassed by it at all. Even now, I know it has lost some of its derogatory meaning across the ocean but will still never be 100% accepted. Recent series of both anime and manga poke fun at the otaku subculture in a humorous way instead of negative. It is something that is no longer just pushed under a rug or tossed into a corner and forgotten about as it had in the past. Kinda like how some mental disorders are done here in the States today. That is something I do not wish to touch with a 10 ft pole though...so moving on.

Now, where the hell did this term “weebo” come from? Why the hell has it become such a thing? WHY?! JUST WHY?! According to the Urban Dictionary it is an overly obsessed individual who lives and breathes anime and manga (usually mainstream titles only). They do not branch off into the older titles or even bat an eye at the obscure titles (which I absolutely love). They only “love” what is currently airing. I am using the term “love” lightly. More like they only enjoy it as the current fad. Next mainstream series comes along and they move onto it like a leech. Sooooooooooo from my understanding they are wanna-be’s. They want to be an otaku but don’t want to deep dive into the full anime subculture. They only use Japanese terms and phrases picked up from mainstream shows. And use them periodically out of context. They show no interest in other aspects of the Japanese culture or learning how to correctly speak the language. They think it's the “cool” thing to do. OMG, look at me- I can speak a couple of words of Japanese thanks to this show that everyone else is watching. Look at me, look at me! They scream fake. I’m sure you know a couple. I know I do and they annoy the hell outta me. You try to have an intelligent conversation with them and it all circles around back to the one mainstream series that they are currently obsessed with. This is seriously the main reason I did not get along with some of my former coworkers. Oh well, let them be them and I will continue to enjoy the wide range wonders of all genre anime and manga (especially older titles). 

Now as an otaku of not only anime and manga but video games, Super Sentai, Asain Horror, Japanese music and the list goes on and on and on and on; as well as someone who has taken the basic Japanese language classes; and as someone who enjoys learning about different cultures (especially Asian history and culture) due to my cultural anthropologist background- this term offends the hell outta me. Why?! It’s just a word. Maybe I finally understand why some people find the word “moist” offensive as this is along those same lines. I still don’t understand why. It is a fun word to say. Moist! Mooooooooist! Moissssssssst! It’s like do not give yourself a label. Do not think this “weebo” thing is a cool thing to do. It is not. You're a fake, a fraud. Many of us otaku from the older generation can see right through it. Don’t obsess over something if you do not intend to appreciate and understand the full cultural context that it offers. Japanese animation and manga is something that should be appreciated as an art form because in reality that is what it boils down to. It is an art form. It should be enjoyed by all. But to only enjoy something because it is the cool thing to do and you want to impress people, no. Not cool. That is just a slap in the face to those that enjoy it as a whole. 

These are my musings, take them or leave them! Enjoy them or don’t! Have fun, don’t be a weebo!

[theshinobiway]

The whole Lee being bald thing was just a mean hoax. It was never verified by any legit sources, just a bogus reddit post. There’s been plenty of those.

PSA: Rock Lee isn’t balding! I repeat, Rock Lee IS NOT BALDING! Here’s the Proof!

I knew that not watching Boruto would catch up with me eventually, so here’s me amending my previous statement: There’s no official confirmation that Rock Lee is actually balding in Boruto. 

And BOY did I do a deep dive of the internet for this. Saddle up kids, I’m about to throw on my amateur detective hat and take you for a wild ride through the internet to end this rumor once and for all.

Warning: Long, picture-heavy post where I cross-examine multiple sources.

Part I: The situation!

Here’s a compilation of the screencaps from Boruto episode 58 that sparked a thousand rumors.

Looking at the top-left screencap, we can see a strange rendition of Lee’s hairline. Following this introduction, Boruto and Yurui begin their match. When Yurui unleashes his unnamed Bubblegum-Pop jutsu, Boruto is thrown back. Rock Lee then grabs his hair due to the heavy winds that emanate from the burst. Putting the two together, it looks vaguely like Rock Lee has a strange hairline that accompanies him frantically grabbing his own hair.

Part II: The “Sources”

Okay, I spent probably close to 4-5 hours scouring through different links and articles. Here’s a breakdown of the internet’s say on the matter:

The first major source is from a website called “Comicbook.com” It’s the website that was linked in multiple other copycat articles, blog posts, and forums, and was the first result for any Google search of “Rock Lee balding” (or variations thereof)

Okay, this isn’t so bad. I see that there are sources linked, so I should be able to logically follow the trail back to either an interview or the name of the “book” in question. First, let’s look at where these so-called linked ‘sources’ lead. 

In any part of journalism, linking your sources is the most important step to ensure your audience that you cross-referenced with legitimate sourc-

aaaand YOU HAVE FAILED Journalism 101. 

Hm. despite the fact that this is a Reddit post and not an actual link to ANY book whatsoever, the link’s dead. Deleted. Frankly, this whole search was an endless loop of dead ends, but I was deadset on getting to the bottom of this.

So thus far, I’ve got one lead that wasn’t solved: there’s a rumored “Book” out there somewhere, and it was referenced at “some point.” My first guess would have been a databook, but I’ve read those. Perhaps the one I read had a translation error?

Scrolling through the comments of this Reddit post, I came across this:

Important context clues here: It’s not stated in a Databook. That means Naruto’s Jin no Sho, the Fourth official databook, is NOT the source of the rumor. Also, I was able to find a scanlation of Rock Lee’s page for the very same book here:

Rock Lee’s balding also certainly wouldn’t mentioned in any of the previous databooks where Rock Lee was, y’know, a teenager. All four official databooks are off the table.

Secondly, the link posted by user “Hydrobolt” leads to a twitter post with the following:

No sources, no reference to a book, nothing. Except for a few screenshots of Boruto Episode 58. I’ll discuss these shots later, but this appeared to be yet ANOTHER dead end. (Also, this twitter thread has ZERO links or sources!)

I can see why the post was deleted by the mods, but this was troubling: Did this whole rumor start from ONE twitter post from a shipper (that had single-digit likes/reblogs?) 

I didn’t think so. Even if this random tweet was picked up by a semi-popular media outlet, I still needed to answer the following questions:

What was the “book” that supposedly had Kishimoto’s confirmation? Did it exist, or was it a bluff?

Where could I find a scanlated (and hopefully English, though my husband speaks Japanese) version of the Rock Lee page?

Part III: The Search for the Non-Databook “Book”

Even if it wasn’t in a databook, there are multiple interviews and exo-textual sources that can be used to glean information about the characters. I knew I wasn’t looking for an interview–in part because the key was “book,” and also because Kishi has only given a set amount of serious interviews in the past, and most of those are available in translation. Thus, there might have been a storyboard, book, or some other source that was exclusively released that might hold this information.

The most promising lead was from a site called narutoforums.org

The original post:

Okay, first, there’s no actual link on “here”. That’s a major red flag, especially given that the post is currently only a year old (posted 7.27.18) 

And it’s yet another dead end.

…Sigh.

But wait!

User “Platypus” mentions that the source was a ‘movie booklet that’s been out for three years.’ That’s a lead!

A movie booklet, huh? Here we go: Sometimes, highly-anticipated animated movies are released in Japan with exclusive manga chapters or other easter eggs, as well as other goodies.

So, let’s talk about this unnamed “Movie booklet” – Three years prior to 2018 would have marked the release of the Baruto movie in 2015. That means the booklet would have been this one: Zai no Sho

This was the most difficult piece to dig up information on. The booklet in question was only released in Japan and during the original premiere of the movie in 2015. I couldn’t initially find scalations, so I did the next best thing: Looking for a table of contents. Good ‘ol Naruto wiki was here to save the day.

Boom. It even has page numbers!

Now, I had a supposed book source and even the page numbers. All that was left to find a translation. After some deep digging, I found one—right here on Tumblr via user Emotionalrockfish.

This was the moment of truth! I opened the link for Rock Lee’s page and carefully read over the description…

Rock Lee

Tireless effort and ambition! With his hot-blooded passion, he guides a genin!!The leaf village’s pride, an expert of taijutsu. He possesses absolutely no skill for ninjutsu, but refines his taijutsu by exceeding the limits of effort with the gutsiness he inherited from his master, and does nothing but aim high. He and his son, Metal*, absolutely can’t miss their daily training!

*Metal Lee is shortened to just Metal here, so no, he’s not called Lee like his father.

(*Pterodactyl screeching*)

AND THERE IT IS: After a whole trail of vague suggestions and dead links, I‘d finally come to the final source material. And there’s nothing! Nothing there that even remotely mentions Lee’s baldness!

N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

Conclusion: RUMOR UNSUBSTANTIATED

Part IV: So where did this rumor all start? And what’s with “that” scene?

The Situation Unfolds: The whole situation is from Boruto, Episode 58: The Tournament Begins! The wind in this scene is shown to originate from Yurui’s jutsu.

The bubblegum pop emits a wind blast, throwing Boruto back. The very same blast tussles Lee’s hair.

It’s an obvious gag, but not about Lee: it’s meant to convey the sheer strength that emits from Yurui’s bubbles popping. This is a common trope in anime: Character emits a powerful attack, the audience sees/feels the “force” from the fallout wind. 

The audience now knows that there are some stakes to Yurui unleashing his gum-based jutsu, because the force of the blast not only throws Boruto back, but can also reach a good distance away to where the proctor, Rock Lee, was standing. 

Further Explanation: It’s also fairly obvious that Boruto (and Ikemoto’s style) deviate from Kishimoto’s, so we should expect some variation in character appearances outside of the expected “age-up” factor.

Here are some original renditions of Lee with his hair (flying) up and his younger self’s hairline:

In Part I, we see that Lee’s hair falls into a widow’s peak. Then, in concept art for the Naruto: The Last, we see a far less defined peak—in fact, the hairline is decidedly square-shaped.

Then, finally, in the Boruto animation, Lee’s hair is almost circular (but also shown from an extremely tilted perspective.)

So we see a distinct transition in the actual SHAPE of Lee’s hairline in conjunction with the evolution of SP/Kishi/Ikemoto’s style. A story written over at least 17 years and spanning over three different series has a change in style? More likely than you think.

Conclusion: It’s a change in the animation style and a throwaway gag aimed at emphasizing the fallout wind from Yurui’s jutsu. Nothing more.

I rest my case, Pumpkin OUT!

[katieusualthings]

The reason why Kimetsu no Yaiba (KnY) is so well received by the Japanese (as such a remarkable phenomenon)

Written by Vũ trụ 一１９九

Translated by Meownie

Proofread by Alice

Everyone knows that just in a short time, KnY has almost occupied the spotlight in all fields, everyone talks about it, the number of sale in goods and comics is enormous, both of them are sold out, etc.

Following my own curiosity with this phenomenon, as well as my existent love for the original work of Kimetsu no Yaiba (the manga), I dug into this issue because, in Japan, every trend has its own root.

Taking aside all the numbers of sale or whatever, which have been analyzed by a lot of people, as I’m not a data person, I will look into the content, the storyline and the core of this phenomenon in reference to many sources and comments about KnY coming from people in this country.

Many of you say that KnY is only at an average level compared to the manga/anime general standard. Then let me tell you what the extraordinariness that an ordinary series can do.

Apparently, there are always conflicting opinions, the Japanese community is no exception. However, the pro-KnY still grows bigger and there is no sign of softening. And here are some positive comments for the success of this series.

1. The anime is excellent in graphics, sound effects, the plot details are neatly arranged, easy to understand and heart touching

Cannot ignore the fact that the anime has built up the KnY’s success. Ufotable made the anime so excellent, especially in terms of visual and sound. It makes the story more approachable and the audience more empathetic to it.

The anime is a contribution to KnY’s greatest success. But many seem to be mistaken that only thanks to the anime did KnY succeed like that?

If the anime succeeds, viewers will be more interested and curious about the main storyline, so they will try to read the original manga. But if the manga was a trashy series, they could stop buying/reading it and just wait for the anime, right? So what is the reason behind the boom in the KnY manga sales until the beginning of this year, and its rankings which are always in the top 3 of WSJ magazine?

Sometimes ago, I did a research and presentation about the anime/manga industry along with the cultural reforms that contributed to the revival of the Japanese economy after the war. In that research, there was a detailed analysis of the connection between the original manga and the anime adaptation as a yin-yang relationship. They are all for the sake of the original publisher and the animation studio, so one will complement the other.

Manga is a product which only attracts a certain group of people, it is not so popular since there are homemakers, young children, the elderly, and people who are not fond of reading, those who do not find manga interesting. But anime is more universal and extensive, as you know, Japanese families often buy a TV to watch the news or to entertain on weekends. The anime is only about hearing and watching, so anyone can access it. When a manga is adapted to an anime, it brings the original closer to the people, and furthermore, hopefully, make it to the big screen.

On the other hand, the original manga is the base, the soul of the work, so readers feel more excited when waiting for each chapter be published in the magazine, waiting for the changes to be re-compiled each time for a new volume. So the manga contributes to increasing a large number of consumers. Of course, buying DVD-BD is definitely more expensive than buying the volume.

As a result, success is mutual support between manga and anime. And making an anime warmly-received is not that easy, the good base of the manga should be credited and vice versa.

I will talk more about the content of the original in the second reason. But initially, it is necessary to distinguish: not all good originals are well-received and vice versa. Everything’s got its relative value, in which context and timing play a role.

2. The charisma of the protagonist, Tanjirou, a young boy trying to save his sister; With a warm-hearted characteristic, his story is not about “revenge” but “restoration”

11 over 10 people being asked, answered that KnY’s success comes from the main character. This is yet another compliment to the editor who directed the way for KnY, Katayama-san, for orienting to make a more gentle, kind Tanjirou, eliminating the brute in the original portray.

Firstly, it is appropriate in this day and age to have a main character who is kind and gentle, which replaces for the old MC portray, who was noisy, hot-tempered and “brainless”. Secondly, it suits the plot that Croc-sensei wants to shape, a story about a boy finding a way to help his sister to be human back, about family love and values. A character who is kind-hearted, with a loving and protective care towards his sister, is more suitable for the readers. On the other hand, the story which does not turn to revenge, but to the path of helping the younger sister to be back to normal and the main character with his sympathy for the tragic fate of the demons makes the readers/audience impressed and pleased and feel like they’re saved and soothed as well.

Tanjirou takes the crown not only because of his kindness but also the determination and strong will, as he does not forgive the crimes committed by the demons. Yes, he is surely sympathetic to them but they all have to pay for their guilt. Therefore, our main character is always consistent from the beginning to the latest chapter and that personality has never wavered.

Not to mention, there is an indispensable point in the MC of WSJ, that they all constantly try their best and do not deny what they are given.

Tanjirou carries all of those points of a MC of WSJ but still reaches many different types of audiences. Lots of mothers want their children to watch KnY so they can show more love towards their families and younger sisters like Tanjirou does.

That is the greatest success of the series. And that’s the reason why the media team take the slogan “Japan’s softest slaying demon story” to PR KnY successfully everywhere.

3. The next detail making the manga a big hit is the consistency in story theme, which is “family”

As everyone knows, the shounen mangas in general and ones in the WSJ, in particular, all discuss the solidarity. But there is a theme in KnY which reaches the audience more easily and widely: “family”. This is the affection that almost everyone can receive and understand.

The modern social situation of Japan, an Asian country, where even though family love is appreciated, the family warmth have gradually disappeared. Children who reach the age of independence and are out of a parent’s guardianship are able to easily leave the country, live independently and rarely return to visit their family. Here in Japan, the proportion of the elderly, late marriage and single people is increasing sharply. The rate of living alone now in Japan is very high and alarming. So a series about love for parents and siblings in the family is like warmth for this cold society.

From an old man’s POV who are living here: “I feel wholesome and nostalgic of the days I spent with my family, feel warm when watching KnY, and how Kamado siblings protect each other.”

The elderly do not pay attention to whatever trend is, they just watch TV basically to enjoy good work and support it.

The family theme is easy to empathize and to be delivered, so even the kids can watch and enjoy it with their mom. There are some POVs from some mothers, telling that their little kids love KnY and hoping they love their family just like the characters in the story do.

Although the context in the story is dark, the path of the story, the way expressing the theme of Croc-sensei is easy to understand, which brings in the light in the darkness and makes the number of readers become more diverse, makes the work more popular and universal.

Tbh, KnY is still very “bright” compared to many series in Japan, so a lot of children can approach this manga. Moreover, there are many cute characters and details in the story.

4. The gap between characters makes a unique way in Gotouge-sensei’s character creation

The Japanese love the interesting dynamic, and they define it as “the gap”. The more surprising gap a character has, the more popular that character is. Briefly, it is, “not judging the book by its cover”.

The first example is the character has the same or sometimes, more popularity over the MC in Japan, Zenitsu. They don’t usually like noisy guys, but because Zenitsu is a cool character and has an interesting gap, which attracts readers. Apart from his noisy, cheerful behaviour,  he is a serious, thoughtful and experienced person who accepts pain and loss just like an adult.

Then there are countless characters with interesting gaps like Inosuke, Giyuu, and the Pillars. Crocs-sensei’s characters are not many, compared to a shounen series. But this is the mangaka’s intelligence to choose the strengths outshining the weakness. Although sensei does not create many characters, sensei has built the base for the character very well, for the impressive appearance of each one and makes the readers/audiences remember them deeply.

The proof of this success is that KnY goods are sold out with every character, from the most to least favourite.

5. The story is clearly set in the Taisho era, coming with its proportional design and architecture that makes the reader accessible

Taisho era is neither old nor new. The people witnessing the change in that era are still alive. But Taisho was the period of transition with the insecurities in the society. So the creation of a fantasy battle with the chaos between demons and people is extremely suitable for the Taisho era.

There are billions of reasons, like the previous parts, here would mention only main points. KnY is simply a normal series, but it is the ORDINARINESS that pulls out the EXTRAORDINARINESS and delivers those CLOSER to the readers. And this “extraordinariness” is not something that a so-normal series can do.

I love the welcoming spirit of the Japanese, they always appreciate new things, yet never forget to maintain and preserve the old ones.

Because it is a constant rule in development.

The same thing applies for the WSJ: increasing sales for the currently published series, at the same time discovering and boosting new titles. And the latter is more important than the former. But they still welcome new series that inherit such values in shounen genre, the magazine would develop the series open-heartedly if it is deserved.

I am also a fan of shounen and WSJ, I think KnY totally deserves the success it has achieved now.

I also hope it is kindly well-received because Kimetsu no Yaiba was made not to be a replacement, not to take any seats from any series. It is simply a shounen legacy in WSJ magazine. You would know that the spirit in shounen manga highly values this “inheritance” characteristic.

[taki118]

How I would have adapted Cats for a movie

So first off the hybrid live action and animation is the WORST choice for this movie. Cats is a spectacle play at its core. The audience can basically forgive everything that’s odd about it cause they’re watching people doing some insane dancing and stunts. The options are 

1- live action with makeup and costumes like the play only with a better budget. This works for spectacle in the “Hey that’s cool looking dance” or “wow look at that makeup.” kind of way   2- full animation on a sliding scale of realistic to anthro I’d go somewhere in the middle. The spectacle here being the animation on display go real hardcore, do some really cool stuff with the medium.

Going with the cgi on live action takes away from BOTH no one is really impressed by what people are doing cause well cgi can enhance it making it feel less impressive and anything done animation wise is limited due the constraints of a human body (it’s why rotoscoping isn’t really done) 

Now while I think the better choice is animation I’d sadly have to go with live action using makeup and costumes as for whatever reason animation is still “kids stuff” and not an art form over here (not bitter at all)

So I think the idea of making Victoria the white cat an audience surrogate was a good choice. How they implemented it by making her a focus character was the wrong one. Cats is an ensemble play their is no main character, there’s characters of varying importance but no main. When you get down to it the plot is a bunch of cats hang together one night for a special event there’s no real arc it’s a slice of life piece at most. So yes to a character new to all this to explain to them rather than directly to the audience like the play. No to making her have a journey.

I would also cut/shorten and re order a LOT of the songs for pacing reasons. Most of the songs do not need to be as long as they are the length is primarily to show off the dancers in the play. Release the full songs with the celebrities in cd after or whatever. This change would allow the cast to breath and talk to give context between songs

In MY version I’d start with Victoria but not by having her thrown out. Have her in a house that’s clearly just been moved into and her looking out to see many cats all going in one direction and being confused/curious she leaves the house and meets up with a group. I’d have the group be Munkustrap, Demeter (I could rant about her being a non entity in the movie but won’t), Alonzo, Jellylorum and one other cat maybe Bill Bailey or Cassandra , for reasons I’ll explain later. (And I realize these names mean nothing haha) They tell her it’s the ball asking if she’s a Jellicle cat and her asking what that is. Thus the song starts as the cats make their way to the junkyard excitedly all saying what it means to be a Jellicle.

Then I’d have Munkustrap take center stage singing about what’s to come and trying to help the others as they prepare the junkyard and have Victoria introduced to the shy Quaxo. As things begin to settle and Munkustrap tries to get the cats settled Rum Tum Tugger appears disrupting everything with his song. His fun is stopped when old Deuteronomy appears causing all the cats to go quite in respect and that song begins with Munkustrap then goes duet with Rum Tum Tugger.

Deuteronomy notices the new cat and approaches her welcoming her to the tribe (cause they’re cats its that easy). Then reprise of the Jellicle song as the ball begins big dance number lots of energy and fun dancing and little character moments. Then it stops we’d pan to Victoria who’s confused hearing all the hissing and is pulled back by Quaxo, Grizabella makes her first appearance.

The song about her is sung and Victoria noticeably wants to reach out to her but is stopped. Grizabella leaves and Munkustrap refocuses everyone reminding them why they are here to make the choice the group I mentioned before all stand beside him. Victoria asks about the choice and Quaxo explains saying each of the heads makes a nomination but Deuteronomy chooses he also expresses his desire to show his talents in magic and be noticed. Rum Tum Tugger interrupts by saying something like you’ll never be noticed sitting in the shadows or something. 

 Now this is a bit of a departure as Munkustrap is typically the one to narrate all the songs but I think this serves to help round the cast out and add some character as each showcase what they feel is impressive. So Munkustrap starts by nominating Jennyanydots and her song begins

Another change would be a scene change for each nomination showing them in their setting, the implication being the narrators singing is bringing the tale to life. 

 Next would be Bustopher Jones by Alonzo or Bill Bailey. Then Demeter would stop the fun going tense and shouting Macvity! They all run and hide but Victoria in her curiosity leaves her hiding place early and looks finding Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer rifling the ball. The song would be much shorter than normal the older cats cutting them off and chastising them. While old Deuteronomy sings reminding them all of the importance of the night and choice. As Grizabella looks on from a distance. 

Next comes Alonzo or Cassandra’s choice Skimbleshanks. Then Jellylorum’s choice Gus the theater cat his song is different from the others however in that they do his old play and as it goes on the more real it becomes, the play starting with the cats in make shift costumes and props from garbage but as it goes on they’re really in costumes and such.

All the cats applaud his performance and begin to dance once more when Grizabella appears again this time however Victoria follows her as she walks away watching as she tries to dance and sings “Memory”. Victoria is stopped from helping by a saddened Deuteronomy who brings her back, unknown to her and the rest Macavity takes Deuteronomy and replaces him. The ball continues as they all discuss who it will be. When Demeter once more shouts Macavity! Munkustrap tries to calm her and Victoria asks who he is. She begins the Macavity song.

Now if Taylor NEEEDS to be a femme fatale we have Demeter singing her part as a warning but Bombalurina is singing like it’s not a big deal and telling everyone not to worry her side winning out and boom trap. 

BUT I wouldn’t do that keep Bombalurina as big sis material. Her part would be placating though as Deuteronomy, Macavity in disguise, follows doing the same.

Either way  Demeter’s senses are right and when he’s placating them all she lunges revealing his disguise then he tries to take her too and fight breaks out. 

When Macavity escapes he shouts “you’d have an easier time conjuring the cat back than finding him” They are left licking their wounds in despair.  

Then Victoria pushes Quaxo saying “can’t you do magic?” He shyly shakes his head when Rum Tum Tugger jumps in and says “Him no! Now the magical Mr. Mistoffelees he could.” and winks to him, the pair scurry off as Rum Tum Tugger begins the song to the unimpressed crowd and they reappear dressed as magician and assistant starting slow as Quaxo gains confidence and we have Victoria showcase her dancing, once they all start cheering him on and the music picks up Deuteronomy appears confused but happy as everyone rejoices. Rum Tum Tugger gives Quaxo a pat on the back and Victoria hugs him.

Deuteronomy and Munkustrap calm them all again singing of the choice when Victoria notices Grizabella. I got two ideas here 

1 Victoria herself nominates Grizabella risking her new place by singing memory with her  2 Victoria convinces Demeter to do so as she hadn’t made a nomination (in the play Demeter is often sympathetic to Grizabella) she sings while Victoria dances with her

Either way Deuteronomy lets Victoria know it’s ok to touch her welcoming her back and the cats embrace her knowing the choice was made. They sing her off, as she approaches the light she asks Deuteronomy what’s on the other side? The response is “happiness” she smiles a bright light takes the screen and they all rejoice in tears. Victoria sits with Deuteronomy who recounts the nights events saying she will make a great Jellicle cat, then pans to the sun rising and the cats retuning home.

And thats how i’d do it.

We get all the main songs, chances for everyone to show off a bit, a fairly straightforward plot but with a satisfying end, lots of chances for fun cinematography and would make an easier viewing experience. I think the biggest problem with the movie is they tried to make something nonsensical make sense and to give a traditional structure to a play that didnt have one and it just doesnt work.

(Oh also in my version Munkustrap and Demeter are blatantly a couple and are always doing cute shit in the background cause fuck you they’re adorable!)

[aion-rsa]

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Movie We Almost Got

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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a cult classic amongst ‘90s pop culture enthusiasts and Power Rangers fans. Even with its fairly standard ‘90s adventure movie plot, wherein the Rangers lose their powers and have to go on a mystical quest to gain new ones, the film still sticks in the mind. Main baddie Ivan Ooze chews all the scenery, there are some impressive fight scenes, and the Rangers save the day by kneeing a monster in the balls. Yes the CG is dated, the story doesn’t hold up to some of the better episodes of the show, and it’s not in continuity with the series but if you want to have a movie night with friends of a certain age, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a solid watch.

While many love the film exactly as it is, it didn’t go from script to screen completely unchanged. An early draft of the script we discovered, dated October 15, 1994, written by Arne Olsen and David Kemper (the final film credits Arne Olsen with a story by John Kamps and Arne Olsen) has many changes that if included could have made for a very different viewing experience. The script contains new characters, fleshed out backstories, altered scenes, and makes us question the long-standing belief that the people behind the film didn’t “get” Power Rangers.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of every single change from script to screen. There are hundreds of them throughout but we’re focusing on the biggest changes that add new context to the film.

Fleshed Out Backstories

Even though this film isn’t in continuity with the Power Rangers TV series there’s still a lot here for fans to dig into that offer clues to a much bigger universe happening behind the usual stories we’d get in the show. While the script doesn’t have the opening voiceover, which originally gave much of the backstory for Ivan Ooze, here the characters themselves deliver it.

Zordon tells the team that Ivan Ooze “rid entire cities of their adult populations, then twisted the minds of the kids into following in his evil path.” So Ivan’s luring of children and getting rid of their parents wasn’t just a one-off plan for this film, there was some precedent behind it! He further explains that a rebel faction of young people “known as the Order of Meledan” rallied against Ooze and lured him into a hyperlock chamber that was then buried deep underground.

Some of that was given in the movie’s original intro but it still paints a more detailed picture of Ivan. The Order of Meledan, long whispered about in hardcore Power Rangers fan circles, paints an intriguing picture. Later in the script Dulcea tells the Rangers how she knows Alpha and in doing so reveals more about The Order.

She describes it as an interstellar peace keeping force headed by “the finest commander in all the galaxy… Zordon of Altare.” (Yes, they misspelled Eltar throughout the script as Altare.) Zordon was more than a commander though, Dulcea calls him a “legend” and without him the universe would be “a very different place from what it is today.”

Read more

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Power Rangers: A Guide to the Multiverse

By Shamus Kelley

This is incredibly significant. Zordon’s backstory in the show was vague. We knew he had a physical form at one point and battled Rita but to get confirmation he was the head of a force of warriors? This is the kind of information fans always suspected before the 2017 film made it a central plot point and the recent Boom Studios comics began to address it. The film isn’t in continuity with the show (or the comics for that matter) but to know at one point Zordon was given more history and was all over the universe saving people, should give Power Rangers fans chills. We can only wonder if this build up of Zordon’s character was only to give added weight to this film or if they were laying the groundwork for further films to explore it.

Dulcea doesn’t directly mention what happened to The Order of Meledan but after “our enemies” were defeated she returned to Phaedos (where she resides in the film) and Zordon and Alpha moved on “to continue the struggle elsewhere.” Did they take The Order with them? Who else was a part of it? Questions we’ll sadly never get the answers to.

The script however does give us more details about “The Great Power.” In the film it’s mostly kept vague, a simple power source that gives the Rangers their suits back and allows Zordon to return from the dead. The script takes more time explaining it (which was likely cut out for pacing and time reasons) where Dulcea explains that it originated in another time and dimension, brought to Phaedos by the now all but extinct “Nathadian” race. They were the ones who built the stone monolith later seen in the climatic “Guardian” fight in the film and stored the power inside to keep it hidden from their enemies.

The Nathadians are continually brought up in the script, with the race actually being the origin of the term Ninjetti. During the team’s training with Dulcea (more on that later) she lays out that, in Nathadian, “nin” stands for “man” and “Jetti” stands for animal. Ninjetti is man and animal, together as one, “the highest state of being.” How does Dulcea know all this? She’s the sole living descendant of the race!

While the film itself gives us precious little about Dulcea and mostly leans on her past connection with Zordon. Here at least we get a bit about her culture and how that ties into the Rangers’ new powers. It makes Dulcea less of a plot device; she gets to be a person.

Perhaps one of the most fun backstory additions in the film is also tied to a changed scene. In the final film Alpha uses the last remaining power in the Command Center to transport the Rangers to Phaedos. In the script however they travel by a spacecraft that belongs to Alpha.

Hidden in the command center is “a Stinger PX-3000 with dual thunder-cams, long held to be the most reliable Interstellar Craft in the Galaxy.” Alpha relates that he arrived on Earth in the craft over four hundred years ago. Kimberly isn’t impressed, suggesting they swing by a car wash because it’s so dirty inside.

It’s a small beat but it’s fun and suggests that Alpha arrived on Earth independently of Zordon. Maybe the two parted ways at one point and he went off to have his own adventures. We know Alpha has karate chopping action, so maybe he’s the hero of a far off galaxy!

(Snoggle, who never made it into the finished film, can be seen all the way to the left.)

New Characters

While reading through the script I noticed that while the structure of it isn’t all that different from the finished film, a lot of sections were cut, likely for time or budgetary reasons. A few side characters didn’t make it to screen, one of which is the long rumored Snoggle. Glimpsed in behind-the-scenes photos and videos for years, Snoggle has held an air of mystery as a huge dropped part of the movie.

Read more

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Power Rangers and How It Adapted From Super Sentai

By Shamus Kelley

For anyone out there wondering what his point in the movie was, his role in the script isn’t that significant and he’s mostly there to be a sidekick to Dulcea. He’s described as “a helper, an anteater-like creature” who doesn’t speak English. His biggest contribution to the plot is lightly mocking the Rangers as they train with Dulcea.

Far more interesting is the never before seen Queen Tengu. Yes, while in the film the Tengu simply obeyed Ivan Ooze’s commands. here they have a leader. She’s created out of a bolt of energy from Ivan and is described as having a different color than the rest of the Tengu along with “glowing red eyes.” It’s also specified that she speaks with “squawk subtitles.” She gets to play an integral part in a cut fight scene we’ll get to later.

Also, Fred’s mom is in script. She doesn’t do much but hey, she’s there for the lead kid character to worry about!

Changed Scenes

Most scenes in the script have at least a few differences, changed words, small bits of description that didn’t make it into the film, etc. We’re going to focus on the biggest changes, scenes and moments that would have made a significant difference to the film.

Remembering the Cast Changeover

Kimberly’s mini speech about how Zordon has been like a father to them all is in the scene just after Ivan attacks him. Her heart to heart with Tommy also take place not on Phadeos but on Alpha’s old ship as they travel to the planet. The other Rangers join in on the conversation with Aisha’s touching addition, “you know, meeting Zordon… teaming up with all you guys… it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Rocky chimes in with, “it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to ALL of us.”

It’s a great little moment that not only brings the team closer together but also acknowledges the then recent cast changeover that happened in the TV series.

Ninjetti Powers

The biggest changes though begin when the Rangers are given their Ninjetti powers. Instead of just a swirling light the Rangers put their hands in an urn. There they see and take on the shape of their animals, the costumes appearing as Dulcea describes their traits. In a bizarre omission most of the Rangers get flowery descriptions of their animals (“cunning and swift”, “agile and sublime”, etc.) Rocky doesn’t get any! Dulcea just says “Rocky, you are the Mighty Ape” and moves on. Ouch.

Adam’s now legendary line “I’m a frog” isn’t present in the script but a slight variation of it is. He simply says, “a frog” when given his powers. Dulcea at least tries to make it sound cool, calling the frog “the artful jumper.”

Added Stakes

There’s a bigger ticking clock added when the Rangers head to the monolith in the forest. Dulcea relays that once they cross the threshold to the inner sanctum they only have about two minutes to release the power or it’ll self-destruct, “causing a thermonuclear reaction of such magnitude that the entire planet will instantly burst into a billion flaming particles hurtling through space.”

That’s…. a lot. In the film we just had the threat of Zordon losing his life but here the Rangers themselves will bite it if they don’t unlock the power fast enough. If that idea was kept that would mean they couldn’t have a long fight outside the monolith so that’s probably why it was cut.

Tommy Is An Idiot

The scene at the monolith itself of course lasts longer than two minutes worth of screen time, with the Rangers all trying to find a way to unlock the great power. In the absolute funniest moment of the script, Adam suggests they have to break through as “our Ninjetti animals.”

Tommy takes this hilariously literally and the script delightfully describes how he “dives through the air, hits the monolith with a resounding crunch.” Don’t vote for dummy, am I right? For all of Tommy’s status as the most legendary Ranger of all time, in the show itself he’s actually pretty stupid. How he became a doctor I’ll never know.

Bringing Zordon Back to Life

The Rangers do finally unlock their powers thanks to a communication from Zordon just before the monolith explodes. He tells them to keep their spirits up which somehow makes the Rangers realize they have to master the spiritual side of their Ninjetti powers.

The team wins the day but instead of teleporting from Phaedos to the city as they do in the film, they instead go back to the command center. There the scene largely plays it as it did later in the film with the team using their new powers to restore the command center and bring Zordon back to life.

It’s hard to know whether this scene was shot in the film with the intention of it being used after they left Phadeos but was switched around in editing but eagle eyed fans might want to give it a watch again.

With the Rangers bringing him back to life Zordon gives the Rangers new power coins as “a reward for your amazing bravery” which will unlock their new Ninja Zords. No explanation is given for where the Zords came from which… is the most Zordon thing this script could do. He always had an extra Zord fleet just hanging around whenever the Rangers learned a lesson. Maybe the writers of this film understood Power Rangers more than we give them credit for!

The Final Zord Battle

The Megazord fight in the city goes for much longer than it does in the film, the CGI costs most likely preventing some of the wilder events the script describes such as the Megazord getting tossed into Angel Grove First National Bank and the Megazord delivering double punches, drop kicks, roundhouse hooks, and spinback kicks. Would have loved to see that PS1 cutscene Megazord try and pull those off!

Later in the fight Ivan grabs the Zord and takes them to “Westside Bluffs” where he tosses them off a cliff but of course Tommy saves the day by swooping in with the Falcon Zord and attaching himself to the back so they can fly. This is almost immediately undercut as the fight continues underwater. Ivan ends up landing in an active underwater volcano, which was, again, probably deemed too expensive to pull off with the limited CGI resources of the film.

New Powers

One of the most well known cuts from the film is that the Rangers were originally shown without the visors in their helmets. This was done to better convey the actor’s emotions during filming of the action scenes. The idea was thankfully scrapped but it’s prevalent in the script. Alpha tells the team he’s retro-fitted their helmets with new “Omni Scan devices.” We aren’t sure if this is just another power-up or if “Omni Scan” is just a fancy description for “we took the visors out of your helmet so I guess you have a slightly bigger range of vision and your identities are now completely exposed.” The Rangers go visorless again later in the film when they get their powers back.

The Rangers also get new individual powers. Billy has an “Audio Enhancer” that takes the form of an “Auto Phonic Receiver” that pops out of the side of his helmet. Rocky has a Power Tracker that’s basically a scope that snaps into place over his left eye. Presumably this would have been inside the helmet. This is an earlier version of the scanner he ended up using in the finished film.

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Power Rangers: The Unproduced Episodes

By Shamus Kelley

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Power Rangers: Ranking All 26 Seasons

By Shamus Kelley

Ivan Ooze also gets a few new powers of his own. Instead of the scene when he tricks the Rangers into thinking he’s a security guard and then morphs into his true form, in the script Ivan makes an even showier entry. The Rangers spot a “grotesque horned creature” that springs out of a cave and lands in front of them. It snarls, exposing long dripping fangs. Only then does it shape into Ivan Ooze. He then doesn’t unleash the Oozemen on the team but instead zaps six rats. Previously mentioned in the script, they’re transformed into “six hairy rat-beasts.”

These rats were built for the film but were scrapped for not being high enough quality. However, they did find a use when filming on the movie went over schedule and they had to shoot episodes of the TV series in Australia (these scheduling issues caused several planned episodes to be scrapped and lost to time, which you can read more about here). The rats were deemed good enough for the show and appeared in the “Return of the Green Ranger” mini-series.

Back in the film, Tommy gets to show off a new power when he shoots laser blasts from his eyes. Saba, called the “Saba Saber” here, doesn’t get to save the day as he does in the film. When the rats are incinerated by Tommy’s blast they turn back into the six original small rats.

Even the Megazord gets a cool… old/new power? While in the film the Rangers just whip out a sword, here the script describes the Rangers summoning the “POWER SWORD.” It even drops from the heavens like in the show! This probably wasn’t supposed to be the original Megazord’s power sword… but what if it was? How much of an amazing callback would that have been? Mostly likely though it would have been the same design as in the film, just dropping from the sky like the original Power Sword did.

New Scenes

The biggest sequences cut from the film feature the Rangers training as Ninjetti. While in the film they were given the powers very quickly, here we get several extended training scenes with Dulcea. She trains each of the Rangers individually, walking along a bamboo log on her hands with Kimberly, lifting a giant boulder with Aisha, fighting Billy with a whistling stick blindfolded, and Tommy flying through the air from a rope. Adam and Rocky don’t get any training because I guess this script really has it out for those guys. Throughout all this Snoggle watches and is just a sassy little jerk to them.

These scenes were probably scrapped either for time or the fact that they’d been shot with Mariska Hargitay, who’d replaced Gabrielle Fitzpatrick after she was injured just before filming began. However after months of shooting the producers then decided to reshoot all of the Dulcea scenes which they brought Fitzpatrick back for. We’ve seen behind-the-scenes footage of Hargitay performing these scenes so perhaps they were deemed too expensive to mount again or simply cut even after the reshoots.

In what is perhaps the best idea cut from the script, the Rangers are all struggling to master their Ninjetti powers. Rocky, at least getting one moment of character, lashes out at Dulcea,

“I don’t even know why we came here in the FIRST place! Without our Morphin Powers, we’re just a bunch of TEENAGERS!”

Duclea doesn’t let this stand when she tells the team, “you have been relying on your Morphin Powers for so long that you’ve forgotten how to rely on yourselves.”

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Power Rangers Seasons We Never Saw

By Shamus Kelley

Putting aside that the Rangers regularly fight unmorphed, this is actually a really great idea. This could have made a fantastic arc to the film that would justify only having one morphed ground fight at the beginning. The Rangers learning they need to be powerful even without their powers could have been a great test of their characters. By undergoing this training they’d realize the value in not just relying on their morphed abilities. This lesson isn’t really stressed throughout the script but it’s still an absolute gem of an idea I wish had been expanded.

Later during a new action scene that replaces the bone dinosaur fight; the team goes up against the Tengu Queen. This fight takes place near a chasm, with the Tengus blocking the team’s path across a tenuous rope bridge. The Rangers get to show off their new skills and even deliver some groan inducing one-liners such as “pheasant dreams!”

In a move directly ripped from the show, the Rangers can only defeat the Tengu by aiming for their beaks. Z Putties, much? Adam gets his moment to be cool when he defeats the Queen Tengu by leaping toward her, looking her dead in the eyes and quips, “polly wanna cracker?” This is how he defeats her, I kid you not.

This fight is the main action set piece for this part of the film. We don’t get the “Guardian” warrior fight outside the temple. While those designs would be missed it at least keeps the Tengu a bigger threat in the film than simply being blown up by Ivan.

The film ends not with a display of fireworks but with perhaps the cheesiest scene in the entire script. The Rangers are in the command center and Alpha holds up a camera and asks them to say cheese. I’ll just quote the description of the rest because it’s perfection.

The kids share amused looks and all together they LEAP INTO THE AIR, PUMPING THEIR FISTS UP VICTORIOUSLY.

“POWER RANGERS!”

WE FREEZE FRAME.

Okay, the writers of this script DO understand Power Rangers.

Was The Script Better Than What We Got?

With all these changes in mind, would the movie have been better if this draft of the script was left intact? Not really.

In isolation some of these changes are fascinating but taken as a whole the script really isn’t that much better than the movie we ended up getting. Yes some of the little additions of lore are fascinating for Power Rangers fans but they don’t add much to the story. The movie still doesn’t have a character arc for any of the Rangers or the rest of the cast for that matter. It’s a generic 90’s adventure movie with the Power Rangers mixed in.

It also suffers from desperately trying to give all the Rangers something to say in every scene they’re in. While I appreciate the sentiment, this leaves large chunks of the script dedicated to giving each Ranger a line of dialogue whether it’s needed or not. That dialogue is also completely interchangeable. No work has been done to try and distinguish how each of the Rangers talk (you could say the show had this issue too). They’re all just generic heroes, except for the odd smart guy line from Billy or heartfelt declaration from Kimberly.

Without that the movie just moves from set piece to set piece, only wringing emotion out of Zordon’s near death which is undercut by his revival before the Megazord climax. The filmmakers made the right call by placing this scene later on.

But if we’d gotten this script as is it’d still maintain its cult classic status. Power Rangers was an absolute juggernaut at that point in entertainment and that alone would earn it a warm place of nostalgia in fans’ minds. Yeah it’s a sloppy movie but who cares when you can watch (or read it) and get that same feeling you had when you saw it for the first time as a kid.

But for real, why does this script hate Rocky so much?

The post The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Movie We Almost Got appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[moistwithgender]

Monthly Media Roundup (April 2019)

April was a bit of a disaster month for me, and as such I didn’t get much of anything finished. Old wounds got reopened, I was sick all month, I had an unavoidably bad birthday, and a lifelong pet died. I didn’t engage with a lot of things, and mostly slept. I did play a lot of Breath of the Wild, but seeing as I didn’t finish that, I’m not including it yet. Here’s the things I did finish:

Games:

Blaster Master Zero (Switch): I actually first bought and finished this two years ago, and since the sequel has come out I decided to replay it with the Shovel Knight DLC character. While I genuinely like this game (I 100%’d it both times), I was not really in a good spot to enjoy this playthrough, and just kinda mindlessly pushed through it for nine consecutive hours, beating it in that single sitting. Playing as a DLC character removes the story, which is fine since they’re intended for replays, though I wonder if it added to my emotional disconnect. SK doesn’t receive fall damage, and so the precariousness of navigating the world outside of the highly-mobile tank doesn’t exist nearly as much, though the trade-off is that SK’s combat abilities in dungeons are hindered by an overall lack of range. The game is still rather easy, though, so I can’t say any particular level cadences or combat scenarios carved their way into my memory.

To the game’s credit, though, the things that are good about it are still good. If you have an attachment to the original NES game, or an interest in retro properties, or just want a nice, breezy platformer, it’s very good. It’s interesting in how it repurposes the altered plot of the US version of the original game (where it was its most popular), including even the plot of the little novelization that came out because Gotta Get Those Video Game Kids to Read Something. It has a fake out ending, and if you 100% the maps it unlocks a final map that is genuinely surreal enough to be the highlight of the game. Despite my sighing, it is a genuinely good time, and I’m very curious to play the new game, somewhat hilariously titled Blaster Master Zero 2.

Anime:

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: I chewed through the last four episodes of this so that I could say I finally finished the season. I didn’t watch the post-season recap episode. TenSura (the abbreviation of the Japanese title, which I will use to refer to it because satisfyingly abbreviating the english title is impossible) is not a very good show, but for about half the length of the 24-episode first season, it fascinates due to how it functions at all. TenSura is an isekai show, much like the other isekai shows, where a person dissatisfied with their life is brutally murdered (usually by a truck. USUALLY by a truck) and is reborn in a fantasy world that coincidentally gives them an absurd advantage over other people, allowing them to live out all the decadence they felt they deserved in the real world. If this sounds like the most boring kind of wish fulfillment possible to you, that’s because it is. It’s also extremely popular with consumers. Which is interesting! I think the isekai boom is indicative of how late-stage capitalism everyday people the world over, that we envision or escape to worlds where your efforts actually return appropriate reward. A bonkers concept, to be sure.

In TenSura, the formula doesn’t stray much. The main character is a man in his 30s (?) who has never fucked and gets knifed to death while HEROICALLY saving a coworker from a plot-irrelevant stabber dude who was running down the sidewalk with his knife out for no reason besides Main Character Needs an Inciting Incident Now. It’s actually pretty weirdly violent for the start to a show that is almost entirely light-hearted. Dude dies, his coworker dumps his hard drive in the bath out of respect (lol), and he wakes up in a fantasy world that works on videogame logic, including loot, skill trees, and class upgrades. He is reborn as an adorable slime a la Dragon Quest, but the personality traits he had in his previous life (and I guess his choice of dying words) scan to obscenely convenient passive abilities that ensure he’s not only invincible, but will never stop experiencing exponential power growth. Also he immediately makes friends with a final boss-level dragon and then eats him. That’s how he makes friends in this sometimes.

I’m being very cynical here, but the core narrative loop (and it IS a loop) of the series kept my interest for longer than I expected. Rimuru (the name of the reborn protagonist) goes somewhere he hasn’t been, astonishes the nearby (sometimes violent) inhabitants with his overpowered abilities, makes friends with them, and then improves their lives with community. Goblins, direwolves, orcs, demon lords. It stacks and builds upon itself to absurd degrees but it’s interesting that in a genre loaded with very problematic stories of disenchanted dudes finally getting the underage harem they’ve always wanted (aaaaAAAAAAAAA) that the main concept of this series is improving the lives of others and giving them closure for the ways life has hurt them. Even if. Sometimes that hurt was the main character’s doing? Like Rimuru absolutely decapitates a direwolf leader and then adopts the pack who from then on absolutely LOVE the dude. Also one of Rimuru’s abilities is that if he gives a monster a name, it class upgrades, which is generally and reasonably seen as a life improvement. Though, these class upgrades are almost always decidedly “less-tribal” or outright human, which smacks of some imperialist thinking. It’s also something I’m sure I never questioned in old videogames growing up. Meanwhile, there’s also a bit with a woman who came from Japan during that one really bad war, you know the one, and the closure she’s given as she’s dying is handled with actual delicacy. It’s a weird series! It’s only a shame to me that after most of the first season, there was less to talk about. Sometime after the halfway mark, you realize the show is never going to maintain tension for more than half an episode, that all problems are solvable (yes, even terminally ill children), and that the show isn’t going anywhere you can’t predict. It’s a checklist show, and the plot points are a list of achievements being checked off one episode at a time.

I don’t think I would actually recommend the show to most people, despite how popular it is. It’s not a great show, but it does weird enough things for a while that it generates conversations. Which is honestly pretty okay. It’s a pretty okay show. Also, Rimuru is effectively nonbinary (with he pronouns), and that’s… somethin’! (24 episodes, finished 4/17/19, Crunchyroll (Funimation also now has the dub I think? Clips I saw were pretty weird, Rimuru seemed to be characterized differently.))

Manga:

Nejimaki Kagyu Vol 1: You would think a manga that immediately starts with a reference to Phantom Blood would be, well, at least interesting.

Okay maybe invoking a beloved work doesn’t actually mean anything. I just wanted to share this blatant callback. Nejimaki Kagyu is a seinen manga about a highschool teacher whose tragically cursed to, uh, have all teenage girls fall in love with him. And the highschool-age childhood friend of his who has spent her whole life obsessed with him and learning super martial arts to defend his chastity. Her supers make her clothes explode.

…

I take no joy in this travesty.

Anyway, uh. The biggest tragedy here is that the art is actually really good, though the paneling is regularly squished around to hilarious degree. Let’s look at some pages and then forget this manga exists forever.

That horror face is how I feel the entire series should be portraying itself. The manga has a distinct lack of self-awareness.

The fan translation for this series appears to have dropped off halfway through and hasn’t been picked up for years, and based on reviews I saw on MAL talking about the directionlessness of the later volumes, I wonder if the translator got fed up with the series. Oh well!

Kyou no Asuka Show Vol 1: Oh god damn it I just got done with talking about a series about ogling the youth.

BLEASE STOP

Okay so. Kyou no Asuka Show, or “Today’s Asuka Show” is an older slice of life manga by the same author I mentioned previously who is doing an edutainment series about people working in a condom factory. Innocently-minded women in comedically lewdish situations appears to be his whole bag. I think Asuka is pretty charming, but I also know she’s designed to appeal to my monkey male gaze. Obliviously sexy is very much a mood, and in a more adult context I would be all for it. There have been a few chapters where I find myself at odds with the wisdom the author is attempting to impart, sometimes through Asuka’s father, who works as an adult photographer, and doesn’t want his daughter involved in anything that could cause her to be ogled. Like, that’s already something that requires a lot of unpacking in the modern day. Aforementioned wisdom sometimes takes the form of Asuka doing something stupid and innocent and ripe for objectifying, like wearing a school swimsuit in a rainstorm. Or she’ll work a job as a cute girl courier and inadvertently turn a shut-ins life around. Situations where, if it were in real life, I’d think “wow that’s weird and charming,” but by being a work of intentional authorship, it inherently loses some of that innocence, and becomes something well-meaning but problematic. Is that the second time I’ve used the word “problematic” in this post? Is this 2014?

I may continue reading this, but I really can’t recommend it to most people I know in 2019 without several disclaimers and also without probably getting some side eye. I think it’s worth a couple chapters to feel out what its doing before you decide whether you can siphon the charm from it, or would rather move on to something else.

Me enjoying myself when this manga tries to suddenly get up to some shit.

Blue Period Vol 1: This is the last thing on my list, because I don’t want to expand this list beyond the three mediums I’ve already assigned to it. Also, I actually finished this May 1st, but I wanted to talk about it now.

If I had the power to actually get people to engage with a specific work once per month, Blue Period would easily be the one I pick. That doesn’t mean as much when all the other things I finished this month were conflicted experiences, but I really think everyone would benefit from this series. Or at least anyone with even a passing interest in visual arts.

Blue Period (named for Picasso’s Blue Period) is about a highschool delinquent who has a knack for studying, a safe social life, and no interests in pretty much anything. He’s on the road to do fine in his life, and he doesn’t question it much, but that’s it, until he discovers art and realizes it’s the only way he’s ever been able to truly communicate his feelings. It changes everything about him, for more emotionally satisfying reasons, but also riskier ones. He only has one year of highschool to go to decide what he’s doing with his life, and Japan has a very strict education system. You’re not really allowed to just “get around” to things.

Apologies in advance if you’re tired of me spamming full pages but I really do wanna show this off. This is another series with an educational angle to it, though the emphasis is definitely more rooted in a personal narrative of growth. The explanations of art practice and the functionality of exercises and tools are both very informative and relevant to the characters, never feeling like the story is taking a backseat to explain. The characters are, hilariously, everyone I’ve ever met in an art class. There’s the kid who would rather exclusively draw the things they like, there’s the kid who likes art as a hobby but haaaates being given a project, etc etc. There are students who have an innate grasp on how to draw but haven’t internalized the Why of the exercises, and students who are receptive to the lessons but don’t have the ability to match. The narrative is extremely even-handed towards all of these different levels of skills, and places a lot more importance on why, emotionally, you should totally care about drawing apples and water pitchers for five hours at a time. It’s GREAT and I want to force it on every creative I’ve ever known.

Another thing I appreciate about this series so far is that while there has been something resembling sexual/romantic tension, it’s kind of not like that at all? In the first volume I haven’t been able to pinpoint where a potential relationship subplot would go, if at all. Two possibilities are this girl:

...who is a very likable character but surprisingly doesn’t fit into that box of “standard love interest”. The protag’s interactions with her have been exclusively respectful and admiring, which doesn’t even necessarily imply a romantic subplot, but would be pretty cool if it did? And the other girl:

...who is featured in decidedly more sexual tension-y contexts, is actually TRANS. The manga actually portrays them so uncompromisingly feminine that I didn’t realize they were crossdressing (the term used in the text) until the author’s notes at the end of the volume. I will partially blame this on me being out of it this month, since I just went back to their introduction and yep, they got misgendered and contested it. Given how the character is regularly framed (confident, attractive, skilled, nonstereotypical), I’m… pretty okay with this! If a romance blooms between a delinquent boy and a trans girl, that’s amazing.

I hope y’all understand where I’m coming from in expecting a shoehorned romantic subplot. I’m not hoping for one, I just know the product by now. And if it happens, the options are considerably more interesting than usual.

These are pretty good kids.

Manga licensing is a lot better nowadays than it ever was before, with lots of obscure series being picked up, old series getting re-localized, and translations being better than ever. I really really want this series to get licensed so someone can be compensated for it, and so more people might read it. Until then, I think you should look up the fan work.

---

So that’s all for April. If these posts included live-action movies, I’d have talked about Endgame, but I also don’t want to go spoiling anything for someone who still wants to go see that (it’s probably one of my favorite MCU movies, though). I read most of 1970-71 in Marvel comics, or at least most of the issues on my reading list, but I semi-liveblog about those, so you can just search my “curry reads comics” tag for that. Here’s hoping I have more interesting, more positive things to say about May in a month. I expect to finish Breath of the Wild by then, so I’ll finally talk about that. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far! Go check out Blue Period.

[gobbochune]

Over the Garden Wall is a fall miniseries special made by cartoon network in the early years of the latest animation boom that has unfortunately been placed in the same club as Rick and Morty, Portal, and Undertale as a legitimately good though not flawless piece of media no one can talk about for fear of being associated with an infamously horrible fanbase. Cursed to obscurity because the mere mention of its name will call upon antis and fans alike who will take a mile from any inch of analysis given.

Introduction: 

I think the fact that we’ve come to a place where fandom is a deciding factor in whether or not to watch something is depressing in its own right, but more so with Over the Garden Wall specifically because it’s themes are becoming more and more relevant in western animation trends lately. Specifically with the increased demands for darker more mature themes in stories made for children.

Fans of animation from a technical standpoint want stories in their medium of choice that reflect their mature sensibilities while people with an interest in children’s media demand for lighthearted family fare they can either watch with their kids or appreciate from the standpoint of someone with an interest in child development.

And both sides have a point. Cartoons weren’t always considered to be just for children. Pretty much anything can be told through an animated story, the medium’s flexibility allows for a wide range of tone and performance that is under-utilised as children’s programming. There are some truly brilliant stories that are told though animation that not only push the boundaries of how a story can be told but also what an animated film can look like. People who happen to be writers tend to pretend that writing is the only thing that matters and that a piece of animation is only as good as the writers behind it. I can see why they feel that way but I don’t think they realise how closely interwoven visuals, audio, and text can be. Ideally, writing, visuals, and audio are all different languages that weave together to tell a story and all three mediums need to be given the same amount of care to sell a setting. I’ve seen no shortage of brilliant pieces of writing lost to the annals of time because they look like shit and I’ve seen beautiful animation that stays popular even though its written like shit. Film as a whole really negates the need to have dialog or characters at all, so long as the choice to do so is deliberate and carries a specific intent. Indie darling Don Hertzfeldt for example uses simplistic and bizarre cuts of animation alongside a monotone narration to represent a man with degenerative brain cancer in ‘It’s Such a Beautiful Day”. The narration could have easily been set to more traditional visuals or even negated entirely in place of standard dialog between characters but only Hertzfeldt’s signature style could depict what it’s like to feel your mind slowly imploding in on itself to such a chilling effect. The story was more about the visuals than the narration, and more reliable context could be drawn from the way the visuals are presented than anything the narrator says throughout the film. This is a really cool and interesting way to explore the potential animation and things like these are sorely under-utilised in mainstream studios. 

But at the same time there is legitimate genius to be found in children’s shows themselves that has absolutely zero interest in appealing to adults or even carrying themes at all. There is an art to speaking to people who haven’t developed an understanding of themselves yet that takes a lot of effort and care. Fables are devoted to this concept, designed so that the listener can understand the world through a proxy. It comes from a place of narcissism to think that just because you personally aren’t engaged by simplistic stories it means there wasn’t a level of mastery in creating it. In the Night Garden is a spiritual successor to Teletubbies with an emphasis on fostering a better relationship with bedtime. There is absolutely no entertainment to be gained from this show unless you’re high or have a boner for costume design, and yet kids love it. Toddlers love The Night Garden more than actual kids like Steven Universe. It is an incredibly successful show despite not having anything significant to say because its goal is to entertain children as they’re lulled to sleep and it works. The most beautifully designed and animated show I’ve seen all year is an irish production about baby puffins made for toddlers to learn animal facts. While there is significant scenery porn for parents to appreciate, the goal of the show is to play with all the cute animals and learn how they live in the wild. Mrs. Frisby is much the same in both versions of the show and its major goal is to act as an entry point for complex scientific concepts. Peppa Pig is legitimately fucking hilarious and requires no defense whatsoever. I’ve said before that the phrase “Just for kids” doesn’t mean that something doesn’t appeal to adults but that adults shouldn’t feel entitled to it. You can watch if you want but only with the understanding that this does not cater to you and you shouldn’t expect it to. Viewers outside a show’s demographic are only tourists, they shouldn’t demand to be stimulated with more complex narratives that could confuse or even frighten the intended audience. If it’s too simple and juvenile then watch something else. Practically everything is made for adults, you can handle the pony show not caring about your sophisticated intellectual sensibilities every now and then.

Animation studios want to find a happy medium between these two approaches to animation. On the one hand, they want to push the boundaries to appease critics and make headlines. Most of the markets surrounding these things value new ideas over well executed ideas, and studios need those clicks just as much as youtube analytics do. But on the other they know that their show can only be seen by people who can afford to see it. As much studios want to mix it up things like merchandise and advertising keep the lights on so they’ll need to stay on brand to feed their staff.

Animation is fucking expensive and a lot of studios need to keep up a reliable flow of money in order to satisfy their investors whilst affording their passion products on the side. Sony Animation for example seems to follow this pattern of making legitimately good films between lukewarm branding deals, usually sequels to their previous successes. Pixar and Dreamworks have adapted this pattern as well, and unlike so many animation critics I can’t fault them for that. It’s like every time Pixar announces a sequel or a toyetic franchise fans act like this is the last film they’re going to make, despite many of these losers using the same damn tactics on their own channels. I know a hustle when I see it, and unless they’ve obviously given up I don’t really see the cause for concern.

But TV animation works differently…I think. 

Let this be a disclaimer that most of what I know about production comes from film studies and the indie scene so it’s entirely possible that my explanation of things like statistics and scheduling is either absurdly simplified or outright false. I am entirely open to correction, and in fact actively encourage it from someone who has done more reading on the subject.

From what I understand the way it used to work was that a schedule would be designed under the assumption that once a show caught the viewer’s attention they’d stay on the channel until they got bored. Emphasis was put on stuffing as many different programs as they could into one day so a higher percentage of tastes would be attracted to it. Things become more complicated with the advent of the internet, because unlike the benevolent tv channel feeding you shows it thinks you want audiences can pick and choose for themselves.

Often times fans will show loyalty to a single program instead of the whole channel, hopping between networks to take their pick from the cream of the crop. This is why Crewniverse all but begs fans of Steven Universe to watch the show on tv even if the alternative is legal. It doesn’t matter how many people buy episodes in itunes if the stats show more eyes on Cartoon Network when Teen Titans Go is playing. The kind audience who likes Teen Titans Go is more likely to watch it on TV and will watch anything else on the channel like commercials and other shows. Teen Titans Go does in fact have an audience that audience is more loyal to the network than fans of Steven Universe are, so it gets priority on the schedule. And, despite what small-minded cynics like to say about media at large, its not like the only things these studios want is to make money. They are made up of individuals who entered a less than lucrative industry because they like what they make and want to make things they can be proud of when they can afford it. But money will always need to be a factor and respect for a project feeds artists only slightly less than exposure dollars do.  

Shows that have the memetic writing of TTG but with the fakedeep shock value of Steven Universe are becoming more and more popular because the jokes and reusable formula to attract views so the themes and representation can be explored once the show has paid back its cost for existing. But often what we’re left with are shows that are annoying or embarrassing for adults and are boring or upsetting for children. We’re brought right back to the initial debate of mature themes vs. consistent tone.

But what does any of this have to do with Over the Garden Wall? It’s not avant-garde experimental animation or childish educational animation. It doesn’t really swap between methods but attempts to be both at the same time. Like Gravity Falls it makes sure to let the audience know what it is early on and stays that way throughout. Cartoon Network even resisted making it an ongoing story, it had a pre-determined ending that it stubbornly refuses to expand no matter how much money the fans are willing to throw at a second season. It has more in common with a film than a tv show, it had a specific story it wanted to tell and knew that enjoyment of that story was limited. There was very little in Over the Garden Wall’s synopsis that could be recycled, every decision in story and design had a deliberate reason for being there and if any of the aspects that made the show enjoyable were reused they would lose their effect.

But, like so many modern cartoons, it still fell into edgy trappings that made it too scary for children and too cutesy for adult swim. When thinking of the core demographic I can only assume it was made for animation buffs either in highschool or their first year of college who happen to have a preference for nostalgia over intrigue. Homage is the best way to describe its artistic intent; constantly referencing movements in American animation through technique and shot composition. Its subtle enough that the design is cohesive but blatant enough for anyone who’s taken a class on storyboarding to recognise.

So yeah, it’s a pretty good show if you’re into that sort of thing but why is it such a tragedy that it’s been blacklisted? Well, I believe that Over the Garden Wall not only balances its desire to appeal to goth adults with being appealing for children but actually manages to have something significant to say about excessive darkness at the same time. To prove this I have to dive into the more subtle themes of the show that might not have been made so apparent on the first viewing which means I have to dissect some very uncomfortable implications.

And I’m gonna spoil the ever living fuck out of it so that was my warning.

Summary

On the surface Over the Garden Wall is a story about a pair of brother’s shared death dream as they slowly succumb to hypothermia at the bottom of a pond. The dream itself is the Unknown, a place that can be read either metaphorically as an allegory for depression or literally as the suicide forest of Dante’s inferno. The Unknown attracts the hopeless and lost and there the boys meet others who have been ensnared by anxiety and doubt.The boys are stalked by The Beast (an entity that functions as a satanic male version of Dante’s harpies) while the bluebird Beatrice (named for the muse of Dante) tries to help them find their way home. This eventually leads to a confrontation between the brothers and the Beast where the older brother Wirt must overcome his own anxiety and escape the Unknown to rescue them both from drowning.

Of course that’s a pretty rigid recap of what happens and there are a lot of hints that the Unknown is actually a real place or that the happy ending is a lie or other shit but after several viewings of the show in a relatively short amount of time I notice those hints were only added at the very end whereas every other big plot twist is referenced in each episode leading up to the reveal. Generally, it seems like they wanted to leave a door open for the comics. From what I understand the Unknown is real the same way purgatory would be real. Its less a place than a black hole of negative emotions people are sucked into at difficult points in their lives that is haunted by a poltergeist made of their combined despair.  The fact that the beast feeds on the souls of suicide victims and its true form is just a bunch of Edelwood trees confirms this in my mind.

But here’s the thing about the Unknown- it’s a fucking sham.

Why The Unknown is a Fucking Sham

The Beast isn’t some great and terrible truth that all must fear and respect, he’s a con artist who tricks people into doing his work for him by playing on their anxieties.

The Woodsman states in the first episode that everyone has a burden to bear and his is the dark lantern containing his daughter’s soul. But it’s not his burden and that’s not his daughter’s soul. His daughter is still alive, patiently waiting for him to come home, and it was only his fear of learning the truth behind her demise that keeps them apart. The comics confirm that she was almost captured by the beast but narrowly escaped, which can be an allegory for a near death experience or terminal illness. The Woodsman is overwhelmed by the idea that he couldn’t protect his child, and becomes obsessed with delaying the inevitable. In his frantic refusal to accept Anna’s mortality the Woodsman unknowingly abandoned her. This carries some pretty disturbing implications if Wirt hadn’t intervened, he would have stayed in the unknown while his daughter wasted away completely alone.

Beatrice, who has been estranged by her family because of a mistake she’s trying to atone, doesn’t realise that no one in her family blames her and they’d be perfectly happy to live as bluebirds so long as she comes home. They love her unconditionally, and are so okay with the bluebird thing that they lightly tease her for it over the dinner table. It’s treated as a stupid kid mistake that the family looks back on fondly, and Beatrice being lost in the unknown was the product of her guilt and pride. 

Greg’s reason for being lost is subtle and well hidden but prominent if you’re paying attention. His naïvety and good nature has caused him to believe that he is a bad person because he did exactly one thing wrong: He stole a rock. This is so tiny and insignificant and so real to children that age that it stings. One of my earliest memories is that of accidentally breaking the seal on a bag of candy and waiting in terror for the cashier to notice and send me to jail. Greg is only five years old, and that secret was burning inside of him the whole time its no wonder he crumbled under the guilt the minute Wirt cast any shadow of blame onto him. When Wirt finds out why the Beast was able to capture Greg he’s utterly flabbergasted, and says as much as Greg feebly insists that he deserves to die because he picked up a rock without a permission.

There’s a reason why all but the main cast’s problems can be solved in quick episodic succession. Its because the answers are so blatantly and obviously simple but couldn’t be seen through the self-hatred and doubt. The beast is ultimately defeated not through self-confidence, sacrifice, or true love but through admitting that, well.

(this is actually the big badass moment where Wirt defeats the beast not a one off joke)

The moral of Over the Garden Wall is that excessive angst, especially that which is found in its own narrative, is dumb and shouldn’t be indulged in.

Nothing that is presented about the Unknown is as bad as the characters initially believe and the solution becomes clear once they stop feeling sorry for themselves. The show presents attempts to atone for one’s sins or dwell on one’s flaws as actively damaging and unpleasant for the people around you. 

This can be a bitter pill to swallow for a lot of reasons. Ignoring the obvious things like societal or monetary restrictions there are a lot of ways people can be trapped in this mindset. From the outside it looks as though people are hung up by such simple problems by a lack of self-autonomy, not realising that a personal crisis can be exhausting to address at the best of times, let alone whilst suffering from depression. 

Over the Garden Wall is sympathetic to those who are lost but warns its audience that despair must never outweigh the actual severity of the problem. Many of the more unsettling inhabitants of the Unknown are perfectly good people who are trapped in a bad situation, from the souls of those abandoned in unmarked graves to a loving aunt forced to manipulate her niece in order to save her from herself. 

Nowhere else is this made more apparent than with the two protagonists. No matter the severity of each resident of the Unknown introduced, Greg’s childish optimism always wins out over Wirt’s cautious pessimism. Almost every solution is found either by Greg doggedly hoping for a good outcome or Wirt lapsing into hopefulness, and it’s only when Wirt’s despair causes him to lash out at Greg that the Beast is finally able to find them. 

And this leads us to Wirt. 

Lets talk about Wirt

Wirt is the older brother and thus made responsible for his and his brother’s actions. But Wirt doesn’t really want to do that because Wirt kinda doesn’t like himself all too much. Wirt is just as quick to push responsibility onto his five year old sibling as he is to lament his own inability to preform, despite successfully preforming various tasks mere moments after insisting he can’t. 

*Proceeds to ride expertly through dark unstable terrain one handed without reigns*

Every moment of Wirt’s badassary save for his final gambit against the Beast is proceeded by a declaration of incompetence and excuses as to why he’ll under preform. All character flaws are the product of Wirt’s self-depreciation and any strengths he’ll admit to having he perceives as worthless or abnormal. All of his relationships are incredibly positive or supportive and yet he believes himself to be a tragic outcast who is upstaged by his rival Jason who is superior to him in every regard. Often times Wirt will wax into dramatic purple prose lamenting a lost love that turns out to just be a botched confession and his deepest darkest secret is the fact he writes poetry and plays clarinet. 

All of this serves to make Wirt a pretty pathetic little edgelord, and he would be completely unbearable if not for the aforementioned theme.

Wirt’s angst exists entirely between his very large ears, is very obviously a temporary product of being a teenager. Wirt looks like he could be anywhere from 10 to 13 years old until we realise that his childish appearance is a costume and he’s actually in his mid teens. An excursion into the real world shows the audience that not only Sara, the subject of Wirt’s affections, is totally into him but that he is generally embraced by his peers and his ‘rival’ Jason is a loser everyone tolerates out of pity. Even the Police, who he initially entered the Unknown trying to escape, were merely putting on a facade of chasing them as apart of some misguided Halloween fun. Even as the brothers run in fear from authority, that authority calls out to them that he’s kidding and he only wants them to stop running because he’s afraid they’ll trip and hurt themselves. Absolutely nothing in Wirt’s life is out to get him.

Every time we learn more about Wirt the characters openly mock or chastise him for being so down on himself, and its through realising the ridiculousness of his angst that he is able to defeat the Beast. Even his killing-blow one liner is robbed of its badass appeal because his voice cracks on the first try, only for Wirt to clear his throat and try again. It’s not even him who kills the beast at all, realising that defeating the Beast isn’t necessary to find his way home. All he has to do is stop letting the Beast get to him and he’s able to escape the Unknown without a second thought. The Beast’s fate is left in the hands of the Woodsman, a fitting punishment for manipulating him into doing its dirty work all these years. 

And its not as if Wirt is unlikable either. Certain points in the series we see him open up a bit more and show the genuinely kind and insightful young man who endears himself to the people around him. Though he often mistreats his younger brother Greg, Wirt tries to take care of him where he can and will even indulge in Greg’s silliness when he’s comfortable enough to express himself. 

The cruelest thing Wirt ever does to Greg is tell him to bug off while he takes a nap, and even this he regrets within minutes of waking up to find his brother gone. For all Wirt insists towards the end that he doesn’t care about either of their survival anymore, the mere suggestion of Greg falling victim to the Beast is enough to sent the exhausted and suicidal Wirt into an overprotective frenzy.

Most of Wirt’s problems can be solved not by believing he is good but abandoning the idea that he is bad. Happiness is treated not as a depleting life force but everyone’s natural state. After all, being lost is temporary by definition. To have a home is to have a sense of normalcy you wish to return to, and to be away from that home is to be lost. 

The Beast tries to trick you into forgetting you’re capable of ever finding your way back, or that you aren’t strong enough to escape the Unknown. But giving up is never the answer, for so long as you refuse to give up the Beast can’t touch you. The Beast is a lair and a sham. He grows twisting and winding paths designed to confuse and disorient you. He’s such a weak piece of shit that he needs to tire you out for days until he can even show his pathetic face. 

Conclusion

While media can provide an escape, it also can be a cage all its own. 

In these trying times its so easy to feel as if the only way to keep yourself from going batshit crazy is to accept mediocrity and succumb to apathy. From horror stories on the news to harassment online or even something as petty as your favourite cartoon not living up to your expectations, the relative insignificance of these things is what causes us to leave them unchecked. We let our problems fester because it is our instinct to press on despite the pain before stopping everything to take apart our lives and look for a problem. We hide the things that bother us behind prickled branches that we drag through the dirt until they’re too heavy to proceed. We make up reasons as to why even thinking of a solution is more exhausting than happiness is worth. We pretend our feelings come from an impossible source in order to justify their existence. 

That is the Beast’s lie. 

You DON’T have to choose between wandering forever or surrender to the forest, you can make a better option. Escape the Unknown. Fight for your happy ending. Don’t give Beast what it wants. Unlike everything else, the Beast is the only thing that can’t hurt you. It’s not fucking easy even though it should be and that sucks but you still need to go home. You deserve to go home. 

And odds are its closer than you think.

[theonetruenerd-blog]

MY THOUGHTS ON MY LITTLE PONY: THE MOVIE

I know it has been a while since I made an actual post, but school and laziness got in the way.

But here I am giving you guys another movie review! 

(Quick side note, I saw this movie due to the HASBRO LEAK, I know I said that we shouldn’t do that but I am so sorry I will never download leaked movies again. I am sorry for being a hypocrite.) 

So, oh my god this movie actually happened! 

The FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC SHOW came out in 2010, and the show still goes on to this very day! It’s so unreal that the show is still airing! And I love the series so much, it’s actually the best cartoon show airing today. Yeah, I said it. 

And when I heard that a 2D animated movie based on this show was going to be released in theaters, I. WAS. PUMPED!

There was a celebrity cast involved, along with the original cast from the show involved as well. 

I was so excited for this movie to come out, I was wondering what this movie could possibly be about! 

And then, in mid 2015, the plot synopsis of the movie was revealed! From MOVIEWEB, it reads: 

“In the movie, a new dark force threatens Ponyville, and the Mane 6, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, embark on an unforgettable journey beyond Equestria where they meet new friends and exciting challenges on a quest to use the magic of friendship and save their home.”

When I read that synopsis, I felt skeptical. But it was just a synopsis, the final movie can still be good! 

And then I saw the movie.

Now look, no matter what movie I’m about to watch, I always give them the benefit of the doubt. Even when I was about to see THE EMOJI MOVIE, while I knew it was going to be bad, I still gave the movie a chance. 

And then I saw the movie. And . . . *sighs* it was not good. Really bad, it was. I thought at first it was just okay, but after thinking about the movie and then watching it again with my analytical eyes, I came to this conclusion: THIS ANIMATED MOVIE IS ONE OF THE WORST ANIMATED MOVIES I’VE SEEN IN YEARS. 

HEAR. ME. OUT! 

I am not hating on this movie just because I can or because I had a lot of plot theories in my head and they didn’t come true (*coughs* Last Jedi). I just simply don’t like this movie, and there are many reasons why.

Before I get into the actual movie, I want to go somewhere else. I want to tell you guys about the behind the scenes aspect of this movie.

Developing wise, the story should have been done better. It was predictable, this movie was. 

But lets get into the behind the scenes now. 

I DO NOT KNOW THE BUDGET OF THIS MOVIE! 

Really, CARTOONBREW said the production budget was from $5 to $8 million, but then EQUESTRIADAILY  and other MLP forums said that the movie was around $20-$30 million. So I’ll say that based on that, the movie’s budget is fron $5 to $30 million towards the production of this movie. 

And the animation software for this movie was TOON BOOM HARMONY. 

It is a well known 2D animation software that was used in this movie, combining 2D animation with 3D CGI animation for the settings and so forth. 

I thought the animation would be in-house software, meaning only the company making the film would be using the software that they made, instead of using software that is open to the public. But still, TOON BOOM is still good software for animation from what I have heard of. 

And then we go back into 2014 where the current showrunner of the show, Megan McCarthy, announces that the MLP MOVIE will not only get made into a feature length movie, but it will also be released in March 2017, which was eventually moved to October of that same year I. WAS. HYPED! 

And then in 2015 at PonyCon Australia, she was asked if the movie was going to have the same tone and feel that the EQUESTRIA GIRLS movies have. She replied by basically saying that the movie would be just ...”straight up pony friendship is magic.”. 

But if you would watch the behind the scenes look at the movie, along with that same interview in PonyCon, the main reason for her making this movie WAS NOT because she had a complex story or new story in mind, but literally because that she wanted to go big on scope and atmosphere. (Watch the first five minutes.)

So.... nothing on story and character development and nothing on bringing in more people to know about the show, just the big picture, she wants. 

She’s basically saying this:

(Watch from 2:21-2:25)

And now we get into the animation part. Then I will get into the story/characters, and then I will tell you guys my conclusion. 

So for the animation, it’s a mixed bag. For one, the animation on the mane 6, Spike, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Tempest, Storm King, Grubber, and the seaponies are all well done. Granted, there were moments where Twilight and Pinkie Pie would make weird faces, and all I could think of is, “Wow, the animators really like to show off.” LOL. Still, the animators did a good job with those characters.

HOWEVER! Onto the negative side on the animation. 

(THE REST OF THIS REVIEW WOULD BE FULL OF SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.)

When it comes to the settings, the buildings, and certain characters that I’ll mention in just a bit, they look out of place and unfinished. 

Maybe it’s because the final script was finished two months before the movie was released? (I read the script during the leak and now it’s gone, but the date for the final script when finished said it was on 8/15/2017. August 15 of this year, and the movie was released on October 6.) 

But when it comes to the HAN SOLO RIPOFF Capper, Celaeno and her crew, they look unfinished. 

Think about this. The movie’s production budget was very low. So the animators probably had some trouble to animate the entire movie. But there have been other 2D animated movies like SONG OF THE SEA where the budget may be low, but can still be animated very beautifully. This movie however, has some glaring issues with that. 

The settings, as I said, look unfinished and out of place. When you place two dimensional in a setting surrounded by buildings that look unfinished, the film takes me out of there and I question why these buildings are there. It takes me out of the experience. 

And now to Capper and Celaeno and Celaeno’s crew. 

They look great in these pics, but whenever they move and interact with other characters on screen, it just feels weird. Think about this: the ponies and the other characters that I mentioned before looked great, but the ponies looked the best because even with the very low budget, the animators knew the show and they knew how to animate these characters in this movie.  That’s why whenever they’re talking, running, walking, and doing cool moves, it looks amazing and the animation there feels smooth and fluid. 

But whenever you see Celaeno and Capper, they would never run, flip, do moves, or do anything else besides talking and walking, (Celaeno does very little when it comes to kicking the bad guys. And Capper only runs once, but for like 5 seconds. but that’s it.) that’s because with the new character designs, rushed script, and budget concerns with the animation, you would get characters that don’t move naturally.

Now with the story, the most important part of every movie. I am going to give you guys two point of views, from me being a fan of the show, and from me seeing this as just a standalone movie. So right now this is me as a lover of film and seeing this as a standalone movie. Now, onto the story.

*sighs* WHAT STORY!? 

It’s just, inconsistent and predictable. 

But let’s get into the story, shall we?! 

So the opening of this movie has three random ponies that we don’t know flying above the clouds and then flying down towards Equestria, while the pony version of WE GOT THE BEAT is playing. *sighs* The fucking Jimmy Neutron movie used that song, from fucking 2001. 

Anyway! The first fifteen minutes in this movie really had no connection to the actual plot of the movie. You would think that because this is this beginning of the movie, this whole fifteen movies would be the whole movie. But here’s the thing, it isn’t the whole movie. So when the actual story happens, it comes right out of nowhere and I’m asking myself, “Wait, what?!” 

The whole fifteen minutes is entirely dedicated to Equestria setting up this festival of friendship, this huge glamorous event run by Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight. 

Now with the start of this movie, the setup to the world that we are in is very important. Once the audience gets introduced to a world beyond their imaginations, then we should know about this world and feel like we’re people living in that world. Being immersed into the film. But with Equestria in this movie, you don’t really know much about the world. It’s just, we’re here, and that’s it. Nothing really interesting happens, it’s just Equestria pasted into the movie as the backdrop and that’s it. 

Even with the character introductions, again, we as a moviegoing audience don’t know who these characters are. The characters are slapped on the big screen and the filmmakers want us to know who these characters upon introduction (not really.), but we don’t. Only the fans of the show know and when making an animated movie based on a television show that some people may not know about, that is not good. (I mean THE SIMPSONS MOVIE is a great example on how to make a great movie that is based on a television show. It doesn’t rely on references to the show without any context of said reference, fan service, and character introductions that don’t feel like actual introductions. It’s a movie that anyone can watch. In the movie, we get introduced to the Simpson family, we know immediately in the beginning that they are a dysfunctional family. Bart is a troublemaker, Lisa is the shy and musically talented one, Marge is the responsible and mature one, and Homer is the dumb one. They all have arcs in the story that are important and are actually built up upon, but I digress.).

There are even prequel comics that explain who the new characters are and introduce the mane 6! Hey, there’s something! Oh wait, it’s not in the movie, so there’s nothing! Studios need to stop relying on comics and other mediums of entertainment to tell the rest of the story instead of the movie doing its job. If movie studios use that method, then they have no faith in their own movie. 

It feels like a movie just for the fans, this definitely reminds me of SUICIDE SQUAD LOL. 

 And then we get to SONGBIRD SERENADE. 

Who is really just a pop star thrown into the movie and is given no character or reason to be there, other than to put a dance number at the end and to have a big pop star that people like (including me) in the movie. She shows up at the beginning for a few seconds, and then we never see her again until the very end. 

So after her introduction, we all of the sudden get an introduction to the main villains. And we are introduced to THE HEAVY, TEMPEST SHADOW. 

She takes out Luna, Celestia, and Cadence out very easily, even though the three ponies should not stand around like idiots. They should fucking move to the left or right, you know! *groans*

So the ponies get pwned by one of STORM KING’S GUARDS (THE BIG BAD) by one of the guards using his shield to deflect Twilight’s beam, which makes no sense because he used a regular shield which should have been destroyed, but fuck it, lets just move the story along. 

So the mane 6 and Spike need to go to the Hippogriffs, part seapony, part eagle. Thinking that they can help them save Equestria.

As a fan, where’s Discord? Shining Armor with his army? Daring Do? Changelings? Dragons? No mention of them? Well, movie could have been way worse. 

So the reason why Tempest is bad makes no sense. At first, we hear from her that she’s sick and tired that ponies use their magic just for parties. But then we hear again that she’s doing this in order for the STORM KING to repair her broken horn, and then later in the film which I’ll explain later, something happened to her as a kid, which is really stupid, dumb, and doesn’t make any logical sense. 

So the ponies go to this dirty looking village called KLUGETOWN. And Twilight tells her friends reasonably that they need to keep a low profile, they can’t get captured, and they can’t trust someone who will back stab them. But Pinkie is like, fuck it, I’m going to do the exact opposite! And then the villagers surround the ponies and they all want to buy Spike for some reason, which introduces Capper. And just because he saved them once, every character excluding Twilight, trust him now. Rarity calls him “charming” and Rainbow Dash calls him “awesome”. And this brings me to the biggest problem in this movie besides the story . . . it’s the characters.

While the new characters have no development and do nothing of importance, the ponies, excluding Twilight, are jackasses! They constantly fuck shit up in this entire movie and they never apologize for what they did. Pinkie draws attention when Twilight specifically told her not to, because they were on an important mission. Then her friends would trust the pirates that were about to kill them. Also, Rainbow Dash does a sonic rainboom above the pirates’ ship and draws attention to Tempest. Then I swear to god, when hiding with her friends, Dash says to Twilight, “Did you think they saw my rainboom?”

Jesus Christ.

And then Pinkie Pie, again, just jumps into some little pond area where the seaponies live without thinking what will happen if she did jump in the water. And she trusts the seaponies even though she just met them. Lets talk about the seaponies, especially QUEEN NOVO. 

To me, she’s the biggest bitch in the whole movie. I know she felt wary about strangers entering her kingdom, which is reasonable, but she doesn’t have to be a rude bitch towards Twilight! 

Think about this scenario:

Imagine me as a very rich person, I’m wearing rich clothing, walking with my entourage, and I am holding a very powerful orb that can cure all diseases. So then a homeless man runs up to me:

Man: Please help me, my son is very sick, him and I are homeless, and he’s dying! *looks at the orb* Use that on my son, please! He doesn’t have much time left!

Me: *smirks and smiles* No no no! This is how it usually works! I only help the people I know. I don’t help people that I don’t know. It’s not like I can be a kind soul where innocent people are dying and I can save them, that’s just not me. So fuck off while I use my money on more expensive clothing. So go fuck yourself! 

Yeah, that’s Queen Novo in a nutshell. Twilight needs that orb and Novo refuses to give it to her. Granted, I know the ponies to her on strangers. But Novo knows who the Storm King is, she knows what he has done to her subjects, and Twilight is pretty famous. So Novo not giving a helping hand, or fin, to Twilight and her kingdom, she says no, and literally gets out of her throne just because it was time for her seaweed wrap. Fuck her!

Twilight stealing the orb was surprising to me and was big, and stealing is not right. But while Twilight is having stress over being an inspiring leader and a responsible one too, her friends constantly fuck shit up like it’s nothing. So her friends are on the wrong and Twilight is on the right. If you needed to save your family and you need that orb, would you sacrifice yourself to save it by doing everything you can to get it, or just do nothing and not take action. Like a song and dance number instead. Fuck her friends. 

The whole, “I don’t need friends like you” was out of nowhere, but still, it’s just to move the plot along, even if what just happened made no sense. 

Then her friends leave her (good job, “friends”) and Twilight gets captured by Tempest. And Tempest sings OPEN UP YOUR EYES to Twilight, while Twilight is inside a magic proof cage. 

And this is the part of the movie where Tempest’s past, her motivation into becoming evil, makes no sense. 

The very underrated youtuber, THE DISHONOURED WOLF, said it best:

(7:27-7:53)

So, she did something TO HERSELF and she blames everyone else for it?!?!?! 

And telling Twilight to “grow up” even though she is a princess with a lot of responsibility and wasn’t acting like her friends for the majority of this movie?!?! Tempest should tell Twilight’s friends that they need to grow up instead. (The show’s characters will always be lovable characters and the movie is a huge spit in the face.)

There are also some audio problems with this movie. 

Like this scene:

It sounds like Sia was singing in a recording studio and it doesn’t feel like she’s singing in that scene. 

This scene from GAME OF THRONES sounds like a person is singing in the woods, while you hear a horse’s hooves, birds chirping, and the wind.

I do like the glance between a torn up Twilight and Songbird, but we know nothing about Songbird and she doesn’t look at everyone else which is very odd and weird. 

A whole bunch of shit happens and the Storm King is a weak ass villain, basically STEPPIENWOLF FROM JUSTICE LEAGUE but a thousand times more annoying and with no character motivation or personality. 

There’s a scene a few moments later where Twilight has one of two choices:

Take this poweful staff away from the king, to save her kingdom and everypony who is enslaved? Or save the one pony who has been chasing after you throughout your journey, enslaved your entire kingdom, and let the king take her magic away? Which choice do you think Twilight made? 

If you guessed the first choice, of course, she didn’t make that choice.

And then at the very end of the movie, Tempest is friends with the ponies even though, again, she enslaved an entire race of ponies. And reveals her true name. Her name is.... FIZZLEPOP BERRYTWIST. 

How does that name affect her character? It doesn’t. 

THE LEGO MOVIE with Wildstyle, where she revealed that her real name was Lucy. And it works because she wanted to become “the special” and when revealing her name, it shows that she’s just a regular girl, not just a super cool action girl. 

FUCK THIS MOVIE. 

AN F, THIS MOVIE HAS. 

That’s my take.

@elijah-dawg-one @equinox-vixen @renegade-timel0rd @alexboehm55144 @drwolf001