#hhhh I genuinely hate this side of the family… I love everyone but I’m so fucking tired of this shit

[galariangengar]

💭

[joshnekuu]

Over the past three days I decided to binge Cute High Earth Defense Club (after watching RobiHachi which is apparently made by the same group or something like that?) and I. Have feelings? It’s so. Fucking dumb, I honestly cannot deny that- but I also had a lot of fun watching it and it was a cute show that left me with a lot of thoughts so I guess I’m just gonna talk about it? Spoilers and some criticisms below, but also some love because I did genuinely enjoy this silly show <3

Season 1 was definitely a thing. Of the three seasons, it’s definitely the one I have the most grievances with? That’s not to say that I hate it- without it, I really don’t think I would have enjoyed season 2 as much as I did (which is to essentially say, it set my expectations at a somewhat low bar, so that season 2 was able to exceed them even more easily). 

First off: The homophobic jokes were not great. Episode 7 was definitely the worst offender, and I’m not even gonna dive into it, cuz this is an older series and I don’t feel like it’s really worth dragging out the old laundry and complaining about it, cuz everyone who’s seen the series knows what I’m talking about. It was a bad episode. But even outside of that, season 1 had a tendency to pepper in little moments of ‘no homo’, or the boys being grossed out or uncomfortable with the prospect of there being gay people in their midst. Which is never a great sort of humor to have, but felt especially weird side by side with the moments of ship tease/fujoshi baiting that they also peppered throughout? It felt like a battle to balance it out so that they could appeal to an audience who wanted to ship the boys, without losing an audience who would be turned away by the insinuation that these guys might Actually be gay. 

Second, the Student Council. I liked them a lot, for sure, but it was mostly because of their designs? Their motivations were just. Not compelling to me at all, because I really couldn’t gauge why they cared about a world of order or taking over, or anything like that. Like, the best I can really say is that they wanted to take over the world because they were entitled rich brats? It’s the most likely reasoning. 

And then there’s the issue of Kinshiro and Atsushi’s conflict... gosh. I’m not going to say that I didn’t like the ending, Kinshiro is a character type that I tend to have a weak spot for- the scorned childhood friend turned rival who is motivated by feelings of hurt toward his old friend. But being. Upset over Atsushi going to eat curry one time and making a new friend without him, and never talking about it for the next several years, and Atsushi being Non-Confrontational King and just letting it happen. The levels of petty drama are off the charts.

On one hand, I understand it- this is a very silly series. It makes sense that, ultimately, the driving force of the conflict is something that in a lot of ways is very silly. But I think that on top of the root of their falling out seeming like such an easily fixable conflict, the issue also lies in the pacing of it through the season? It’s introduced fairly early on that Atsushi and Kinshiro were childhood friends, and that something must have happened to make Kinshiro resent Atsushi. There are little moments throughout the season where it’s clear Kinshiro is thinking about it, or that his frustration is starting to build, but it’s not until episode 10 or 11 that we’re finally given any hints about what actually happened. There’s never really any sign on Atsushi’s part that he’s bothered by Kinshiro’s aversion to him or anything. There’s all this weight put on this dynamic by the framing of it with the ending for each episode basically being a showcasing of Kinshiro’s jealousy and resentment, so having it all boil down to a last minute reveal that this all happened because of a misunderstanding over curry just feels a bit too bizarre to be intentional? It doesn’t feel like it’s meant to just be a joke because it’s not really framed that way by the show, it seems like it’s something we’re meant to take seriously, so it just feels a little too ridiculous in some manners.

But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t still love the drama in the finale, with Atsushi swooping in to save Kinshiro and declaring that he never stopped thinking of him as a friend, and Kinshiro returning the favor and getting worked up over Atsushi not being mad at him because it makes it hard to own up and apologize to him. The build up was a bit mismanaged, but the pay off was still cute at least.

It’s kind of hard for me to say a lot more about it? Because it’s not really until season 2 that I started getting more invested in the characters? I liked Yumoto and how he was a very active character that dragged the others into action, I liked the episode where En and Atsushi had their falling out because of the monster and then powered through it with the power of friendship, and I liked the episode where Yumoto had a personality change and everyone realized that they prefer him the way he is. It was silly, not all the jokes hit but it was a fun ride with a silly and sweet ending.

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Season 2 is definitely my favorite of the three. In almost every way it was just a big step up from season 1. I felt like they took all of the issues I had with the first season and either fixed them, or discarded them altogether! The homophobic jokes and frequent no homo-ing? Gone! The antagonists? Had a clear motivation that was foreshadowed early on and built up throughout the season, leading to an engaging and moving finale! They even gave Yumoto more emotional depth, as well as a direct connection to the antagonists, overall making his role in the team and story a lot stronger, and making him an even more enjoyable character to me.

I loved the twins so much. They hit even more marks for me in terms of character type than Kinshiro, and were given even more depth and exploration throughout the season. Honestly, I feel like they were given more exploration and depth than the heroes in a lot of regards? Which was probably what made them stand out to me so much. Their backstory informed their motivation, and even if it was incredibly misguided, it was also incredibly understandable, and it was difficult for me not to feel sympathetic toward them. They were desperate and lonely children fixated on a goal they thought would bring them happiness, and I wanted to root for them as much as I wanted to root for the good guys, because I just felt bad for them and wanted them to be happy. 

And honestly I just loved Yumoto in this season? In season 1 he was a funny and cute character, but he didn’t have a whole lot of depth to him. To be fair, no one in the main team really did?? But he was on the same level as the rest. He could easily veer into annoying territory I think, if you didn’t like him. But in season 2 I feel like they strengthened his character a lot. Highlighting his relationship with Gora, and showing that he was raised solely by him in the absence of their parents, really gave a lot of insight into why he is how he is? He was raised by a very supportive and loving person, who instilled him with his values at a young age, and helped shape him into the compassionate (albeit often tactless) person he is. And showing more of his vulnerable side in regards to worrying about his brother and being afraid of losing the only family he has really made him more sympathetic and endearing! Also, the moment where he’s breaking down because he’s scared of losing Gora, and then all the other Earth Defense Club members tackle him down and calm him down and remind him that they’re here for him and for Gora too? My heart... vewy cute... ty boueibu...

The only issue I really had with season 2 was unfortunately a product of the twins, which is. The incest baiting. Hhhh. It was not as blatant as some series thankfully, there really wasn’t any suggestive dialogue between them or anything, but their frequent touchy-feelyness with each other, especially at the start of their transformation sequence, just felt like it was loud wink and nudge at people who fetishize that kind of stuff, and I could have done without any of that (especially since one dip into the tag is pretty much immediately met with people shipping them.....).

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I was really excited for Season 3 after that, because the improvement had been so noticeable? So I’m a bit sad to report that Season 3 felt like a considerable step down after Season 2 :/ In a lot of ways it felt like a retelling of Season 1, just with some tweaking to make it Different Enough that it wasn’t a complete copy.

But like... The villains are a Student Council trio again. The head of Student Council has beef with one of the members of the Earth Defense Club, due to a childhood misunderstanding he refused to confront  at the time and let build into a massive resentment. Just as things are coming to a head between the two parties, a third party makes itself known and the teams must join together to fight them off. The characters and personalities are different enough that it isn’t a complete carbon copy or anything, but a lot of the story beats are pretty much exactly the same? Without quite enough alteration to make it feel like a massive improvement of the original.

I will say that the new Student Council got a lot more fleshing out than the original. We got a lot of moments where we were given more insight into their personalities, as well as their relationships with each other, and their friendship and loyalty to each other felt very genuine because of it, which was the most noticeable improvement on the original I think! Unfortunately, this seemed to come at the cost of developing the Earth Defense Club? I came away feeling less of an attachment to the individual protagonists, and I feel like it had to do with the fact that we really didn’t get as many episodes that were dedicated to examining the various duos in the group. 

Though, there was more of an emphasis on the dynamic between the two sides, which I did find refreshing! Having the two sides be aware of each others existence, identities, and motivations right off the bat, while also having very little genuine animosity or rivalry between them throughout the story (aside from Maasa and Ichiro, and obviously Ata toward Kyo). The friendly rivalry and implied history between Nanao and Taiju was also a really interesting dynamic- the only shame really is that there just... wasn’t a lot of depth given to these relationships? And that isn’t to say that season 1 or even 2 went overboard with the relationship depth, but I feel like the episodic spotlights they would give to certain dynamics really helped make them more memorable in the longrun.

ALSO I did really appreciate that the issues between Ata and Kyo were foreshadowed earlier/more than Kinshiro and Atsushi, and that Ata’s resentment toward Kyo was also largely due to a feeling of inferiority and that the bath incident was what pushed him over the edge, rather than that alone being the inciting incident. That was also an improvement in writing, I think! There were definite improvements in Season 3 compared to Season 1- I feel like they really tried to polish some of the things that were lacking in season 1, but wound up sacrificing aspects of season 1 that really worked in order to do so? Which is just kind of a shame. 

I think that season 3′s biggest sin was that, overall, it was just kind of boring? I found myself distracted and surfing tumblr or twitter on my phone throughout a lot of the episodes, just waiting to reach the finale because after a couple episodes it became clear that it wasn’t really going to pick up until the end when Ata’s baggage was revealed. The dynamics between the Earth Defense Club weren’t explored as deeply as I’d hoped, the humor was a lot more toned down compared to season 1, and a lot of the battles against the monsters started to feel repetitive or just lackluster- and I’ll admit, I just didn’t enjoy Kyo as the driving character as much as Yumoto.

As a foil to Yumoto, he’s perfect. Yumoto is an active character that drives a cast of comparatively more passive characters. Kyo is an incredibly passive character that has to be dragged into helping, but still manages to save the day by saying the right thing, despite not really being involved in what’s going on. I think the issue is that there wasn’t really anyone who had the same energy as Yumoto? The other characters weren’t particularly driven to Help the monsters any more than the original Earth Defense Club members were, and their battles were always rather lacking in passion, so having the one to finish things be even less driven or concerned about what was going on than the others just didn’t make for as interesting or amusing a formula as Yumoto’s role. Also, Kyo disappearing to fall asleep every time a battle started, stopped being funny to me after like... two or three episodes.

The resolution of the Honyala Land plot was really nice though, and kind of a saving grace that set it apart from Season 1? I loved Karls and Furanui being united over the desire to save their father; Wao trying to pull a ‘We’re not so different you and I’ with Furanui and convince him that his father and brother don’t care for him because they’re so different, only for Ata to open his eyes and get him to realize that’s just not true. And the king confirming it, not just to Furanui but to Wao as well, telling his brother that he loves him despite their differences? It was just incredibly sweet. The brothers becoming co-kings instead of one being left behind was also lovely, it was just the kind of sappy, happy ending that I love.

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Overall, I think that was one part of the series that I did really like. Even if some of the messages were a bit off, or just fell flat, or were even meant to be taken more as jokes than a real heartfelt message, the overarching themes of love and happiness, and everyone having the power in their hands to create new bonds and find happiness in their lives, was really nice? The antagonists being motivated by feelings of jealousy, loneliness, and rejection, only to be met with apologies and acceptance and unconditional love, is just. Absolutely my shit. Even if it wasn’t always done perfectly smoothly, even if it wasn’t always meant to be taken 100% seriously, there was still genuine heart in these stories, and I think that’s what really made me enjoy them all in the end, even with the parts I didn’t like as much.

I still have to watch the OVA, but it is very late here so I’m done with it for the night. I just wanted to share my thoughts cuz I’ve been thinking about it most of the day! Ty for reading, if you did!