#at the end of the day this kind of western animated shows feel so pandering to kids. very formulaic and simple

[aion-rsa]

How The Mandalorian Gave Fans a Different Kind of Star Wars Story

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This Star Wars: The Mandalorian article contains spoilers.

Technically, Disney+’s The Mandalorian is part of the biggest franchise on earth. But it doesn’t always feel that way.

True, it’s a Star Wars property, and it rarely lets you forget that fact. The show is rife with references to the films and animated series that have come before it and it enjoys padding out existing lore in ways that only the most hardcore of fans will care about—or possibly even notice. (Did you remember there was a krayt dragon skeleton in A New Hope? Be honest.)

The Mandalorian isn’t a story that requires a tremendous amount of Star Wars knowledge to follow or enjoy. And that’s because its central tale is one that follows rules and patterns we’ve all seen before. A mix of tropes from classic spaghetti westerns and samurai adventures, the show offers a broad look at life on the edge of the galaxy that exists well beyond the world of Jedi Knights, Sith warriors, and space princesses. And its tale of a lone bounty hunter and the supercute Force-wielding toddler he is charged with protecting is proof positive that there is space for every kind of story in this franchise. (As well as every kind of fan.)

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

In a universe that has become increasingly dense and self-contained, The Mandalorian still manages to feel like a breath of fresh air. Sure, its second season finale includes a surprise appearance by Luke Skywalker, because no property in this universe can apparently escape that family and their seemingly never-ending daddy issues, but the Disney+ series doesn’t seem concerned with him as anything other than a vehicle to further the story of Din Djarin, a good man who is trying to do right – by his faith, by his people, by the tiny creature whose life has suddenly become intertwined with his own.

Though the eponymous Mandalorian has run across a bevy of characters that have made longtime fans shriek with delight (Boba Fett, Bo-Katan, Ahsoka Tano, Luke himself), and the series ties in rather neatly with other franchise properties like The Clone Wars and Rebels, it still understands that its greatest strengths stem from its smaller stakes, more realistic worldbuilding, and the emotional connection between two vastly different creatures.

The Mandalorian isn’t an epic adventure, a space opera about the future of the galaxy as we understand it, or a tragedy about a single family’s apparent inability to keep from making the same mistakes from one generation to the next. It’s a story that’s deliberately limited in its scope and modest in its ambitions and, at the end of the day, the show itself is all the stronger for these choices. 

In comparison to other Star Wars properties, The Mandalorian’s story is almost painfully straightforward, if perhaps a little bit darker in places than we’re maybe used to in this universe thus far. Set in the galaxy’s Outer Rim following the fall of the Galactic Empire, it generally deals with characters – including its own lead – who are not terribly complicated people. Their lives are simpler, rougher, and more focused on the everyday challenges of living than the Jedi and characters like them that populate the films. 

Even the Mandalorian himself is simultaneously an avatar and a real person, and we get to know him as much through his struggles as his successes. He is, after all, the most reluctant of saviors. Yet, as many lone warriors before him, he is also a man with a code, and he holds tight to it, even in the lawless outskirts of the galaxy. 

Occasionally Mando will have to rescue someone or must join forces with an uneasy partner in order to kill a monster or pull off a heist. But no matter how that particular adventure goes, by the end of the hour, he’s back on his path and moving toward his next goal. The show doesn’t really have “arcs” so much as stories that occasionally take place over an episode or two—see the transport of the Frog Lady back to her partner that begins in “The Passenger” and ends in the subsequent installment—and its most dramatic set pieces generally rely on Mando fighting something, ranging from a furious mudhorn to ravenous, gross ice spiders.

In the world of genre storytelling, serialized stories with twisty plots and puzzle-box mysteries are all the rage right now. Just look at shows like Westworld, a drama that—as much as I love it—spends much of its time tying itself into complex narrative knots it doesn’t really know how to get out of. So, a show like The Mandalorian, with its linear narrative, clear-eyed storytelling, and refreshingly basic plots suddenly feels like a revelation.

And maybe it is.

Read more

TV

The Mandalorian Season 3 Predictions: What to Expect

By John Saavedra

Books

What Star Wars: The High Republic Reveals About the Galaxy Before the Movies

By Megan Crouse

The fact is, there’s still real value in a simple story about a man doing his best, no matter what circumstances he finds himself in. Maybe we’ve forgotten that fact in a television landscape that’s conditioned us to always be looking for a trick or a surprise reveal, but The Mandalorian’s largely straightforward narrative proves that it doesn’t have to be that way. And the show is as satisfying as any series that requires complex fan theories to enjoy or in-depth explainers to fully understand. 

The explainers are nice, don’t get me wrong, but in all honesty, the show is doing just fine introducing existing canon characters like Ahsoka to new audiences on its own. You don’t need to have watched Rebels to enjoy her presence here, but if you have, the satisfaction is all the greater. Truly, we don’t give The Mandalorian enough credit for the delicate balance it strikes in the age old struggle between storytelling and fanservice. It’s a difficult thing, and the show walks a fine line both carefully and well.

Even the appearance of Luke, probably the ultimate moment in Star Wars pandering, exists not for its own sake so much as it does to advance the series’ main relationship – that between Din and young Grogu. (If you didn’t get a little emotional watching them say goodbye to one another, then you have no heart, I’m sorry.)  

There’s little of the narrative baggage that usually comes along with a Skywalker arriving on the scene here – it doesn’t appear that anyone else even knows who he is beyond the fact that he is a Jedi – and though he’s meant to teach Grogu the ways of the Force, there’s no real indication we’ll see Luke again. After all, he has to start off down the path that leads him to The Last Jedi, and Grogu will  undoubtedly return to his Mandalorian’s side at some point in the not too distant future. Disney knows where its money is, after all. And it’s not in Pedro Pascal merch, much as we all love him. 

The Mandalorian’s  first season occasionally drew criticism for what naysayers deemed a “flimsy” or “barely there” plot, but this underestimates the power inherent in the series’ simple framework. Not only is it an emotional balm for those of us who are, quite frankly, tired of hour-long installments that require a significant amount of work to understand, it actually serves an important narrative purpose. The slower pace and simpler story allow us to get to know Mando and his culture, and gives the Star Wars universe a chance to take a minute and breathe.

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The Skywalker films are so full of big, potentially galaxy ending stakes and consequences that we as viewers get little time to simply take the universe in on its own terms – let alone get to know the people that inhabit it. We’re usually too busy worrying about how it all ties back to the family at the story’s center or the Jedi they serve. 

The Mandalorian has shown us what the Star Wars world outside of all the Skywalker drama looks like – even though it briefly includes one of them – and it lets us take our time to gawk at its sketchy bars, enjoy its colorful characters, and travel through run-down desolate towns at a slower pace. It’s allowed us to invest in the emotional connection between a lonely man and a lost creature who may be the last of its kind. And quaint though all that might seem, it’s certainly turned out to be a journey worth taking.

The post How The Mandalorian Gave Fans a Different Kind of Star Wars Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[seyaryminamoto]

Do you think they could make Azula gay in the netflix live-action? Many people in the fandom seem to think she had a thing for Ty Lee. I don't see it, but do you think they could retcon the show just to pander to shippers?

Somehow I knew this sort of question would pop up in my inbox one day. I just did. Such foresight powers I have (?)

Anyways, the answer got pretty long, but I hope it’s comprehensive enough in regards of why I don’t think it’s likely, why, even if it happens, we shouldn’t freak out about it regardless of if it negates our headcanons, and why, on top of it all any characterization the ATLA cast gets in the liveaction should be judged as part of a second timeline, removed from the first, and analyzed as such.

Alright, first of all... despite what popular opinion these days would have everyone believe, a character’s sexuality and sexual identity are not the only relevant and important factors in them; in fact, I wouldn’t even call them the most important factors unless you’re outright telling a story with very specific socially critical purposes in mind. Yes, you can deal with these subjects in stories that aren’t exclusively about sexuality, and yes, it offers important representation to communities that were largely unseen for the bulk of human history. But making a character’s entire story arc revolve around nothing but sexuality and their struggles because of it is actually a failure at offering good representation? The point in having media featuring representation in the form of diverse fictional characters is based on allowing minorities to see themselves in this kind of content and for majorities to understand these minorities and their stories are just as valid as theirs are. If minorities are reduced to a single aspect of their multifacetic lives, the only thing the story in question would achieve is turning a character with the potential to be dynamic and complex into some flat minority stereotype, throwing away the countless human complexities through which media can tell rich and important stories that do provide genuine, quality representation to these communities.

Ergo, if Azula were written as a gay character in this Netflix adaptation, this aspect of the reworked character should not, and frankly, CANNOT, be the only thing that matters about her. Azula has a large role to play in this story, a role related to the war, her family, her friends and her nation, and a lot of her complexities stem from how she deals with all these subjects, none of which have anything to do with romance or sexuality. Therefore, I’m pretty sure a lot of us loved her character for reasons that had nothing to do with her interactions with potential love interests, whether they’re of her same or opposite sex: Azula has always been SO MUCH MORE than whatever we’ve headcanoned her sexuality to be, and this is something I hope everyone keeps in mind for this liveaction show.

We need to stick to our priorities, to a fault, as Azula’s fans: whatever sexuality or love interests she’s given, if she’s given either thing to begin with, her story isn’t exclusively about that. So, if Bryke decide to alter this aspect of her original characterization by dialing up Azula’s love life, it’s not the driving aspect of the character and it’s not the only thing we should be concerned with when it comes to her new portrayal in the future liveaction show, regardless of whether said sexuality agrees with our headcanons or disagrees with them.

Alright, then. After that particular clarification had been made... I’m of the opinion that Bryke have indeed pandered to shippers and fans in the past, namely in their sequel show and certain later announcements related to it, announcements that were basically the LOK version of “Dumbledore was gay all along but I thought it’d hurt the book sales and that’s why I only said so in a press conference after the final book was a bestseller and my bank accounts were overflowing” (by which I mean, the last-minute sudden “Aiwei (the dead guy) and Kya (Aang’s daughter) are also gay” comments Bryke made post-Book 4 to convince people they were aboslutely pro-LGBT and their world was very diverse despite said diversity only became known in the final scene of the show and was never portrayed positively or properly through these side-and-background characters...?).

So, would I say, categorically, that Bryke would NEVER write Azula as a gay character if they thought it’d make their show more popular? Nope, I can’t. I really don’t trust them enough to think they’ll prioritize top-of-the-line storytelling over pandering to the crowd that will cheer them on most loudly.

THAT BEING SAID...!

The story they told with Azula in ATLA, despite what certain people are convinced of, had a very straight-forward message, one that I didn’t like very much, especially since that message seemed to render irrelevant the character’s incredible storytelling potential and remarkable complexities. Where Azula could have been so many things, in the show’s finale she became some sort of flat, sad warning stating: “don’t try to control people through fear or they’ll turn against you and you’ll end up all alone.”

As much as I have no doubts Bryke will want to incorporate new themes and somewhat “update” ATLA into more progressive times, I really doubt they’ll sacrifice the story they’re apparently so proud of having told through Azula only to pander to a specific part of ATLA’s audience. For that matter, there’s been a growing movement promoting many same-sex ships and trans interpretations of virtually ALL ATLA characters, so if they were to pander to the fanbase through Azula, why her? And if they do pick her, why stop there? If they do stop there, then they’re not being inclusive enough with their fandom. Why satisfy one portion of the fandom and not satisfy the other ones too? :’D

Worse yet, accusations of foul play will absolutely be guaranteed to rise when a potentially gay Azula isn’t given a redemption (because, considering the latest Azula-related comments by the creators and comic writers, they’re not likely to do it this time either), because “irredemably evil lesbian trope, that’s so sexist and homophobic!” And with that, the long, glorious time ATLA has spent as the golden, poster child of western animation will suddenly be overrun with the very same hysterical purity police that has overtaken all newer fandoms and filled them with antis who attack creators, writers, actors and other fans for creating or supporting “toxic” content.

Point and case being... if they don’t stray from the story they already told, they have a slam dunk since a lot of people will love the show if it’s virtually the same as the one they watched when growing up. All they have to do is alter a few events, maybe expand on a few things, stall the story for a few more years so the actors can age realistically and not be overworked... and tadaaaah! You have a blockbuster! Change fundamental aspects of characters by adding new factors to pander to certain fan demographics? You’d basically be poking a wasp’s nest and hoping they will turn out to be honeybees instead, ESPECIALLY if the character being coded as LGBT is either evil or fated to die, as both those tropes are what seem to incense that side of fandoms more than anything else.

If they want to write Azula as openly gay, they’d have to alter her general character message and whole arc to avoid the guaranteed problems I’ve pointed out up here. Paired with this? They’d have to retcon their recently established “the Fire Nation became homophobic in Sozin’s time!” canon imposed by LOK’s comics, so, if they stick with this tidbit of recent LGBT info, a gay Azula would most likely have to be a highly repressed lesbian who can’t even accept herself? It’s not impossible to tell that story... but it kind of feels counterproductive, and absolutely discouraging too for people who are struggling to come to terms with their own sexuality to see themselves reflected in a repressed character who most likely will meet the same depressing end she does in ATLA.

Now, my final point: again, I can’t say it’s impossible that this might happen. But EVEN IF Bryke decide that this is how their new story will work, and the new Azula will be gay, and they change everything so it’s non-problematic and they successfully avoid being chased with pitchforks by the purity police...

A new characterization doesn’t negate the one from the original show in the least. The first ATLA is what it is, a finished product that can be judged and interpreted in a thousand ways, and has been, for the past 10+ years. A new canon does NOT overrule an old one, a thought that I’m sure the very same purity and nostalgia police I’ve mentioned will absolutely adhere to once the new story changes ANYTHING and they don’t like it. Whatever new possibilities they test out with a new story don’t have to be taken as facts that apply to every iteration of the characters. For reference, imagine judging every Marvel comics character for the actions and behavior of their MCU counterparts. Imagine people raging at Peter Quill in the comic books because he’s in love with Kitty Pryde and how DARES he cheat on Gamora with her?!

... Just how would that make any sense? :’) Likewise, it would make no sense to behave this way with ATLA and its future liveaction adaptation. What happens in the liveaction concerns the liveaction. What happened in the original show can serve as a guideline for the liveaction, if anything, a frame of reference, but they can (and will) change elements in the story as they please in the new adaptation. However similar as they might be, they’re TWO stories, and they should work perfectly well as standalone shows.

Let’s look at it from the opposite POV, to further illustrate my point: if the new show SOMEHOW made Sokkla canon, unlikely and damn near impossible as it is: that doesn’t make it canon in the original ATLA. Hence, if I were to run out in the streets screaming Sokkla is real and endgame in EVERY POSSIBLE VERSION OF ATLA, the entire world would have every right to throw rotten eggs at me and tell me to shut the fuck up because it’s not true, it’s only real in the liveaction, and that doesn’t have any bearing on the original show.

Same principle applies with a potential gay Azula :’) Even if it happens, it’s liveaction only. The original show remains what it is, and her characterization there can be interpreted and derived from as we see fit.

To close this answer, I confess that I, personally, have next to no interest in this liveaction remake. I can’t even say I’ll watch any of it. For one thing, I’m really annoyed by the trend there is these days to turn animation into liveaction, because it seriously feels like an underlying way to say that liveaction is somehow the superior choice for audiovisual storytelling and that really grinds my gears. Animation has been fascinating media for me for years, I’ve always felt it’s more versatile than liveaction, and if I ever happened to write something that gets an onscreen adaptation, I’d probably choose animation over liveaction even if I’m not given a choice on the matter :’) So, for starters, I’m not happy with the notion of a liveaction remake for this show. If they wanted to remake ATLA and had chosen to do so with animation, I’d definitely be much more interested. But this way? Uh... not my cup of tea.

So, whatever Bryke want to do with this new product is absolutely their business (same as it was their business with ATLA, frankly). People will criticize it, that’s a guaranteed thing, and people will love it, and people will be angry, and people will be happy. But I’m probably not going to be one of any of these people this time around. The only way I would likely enjoy that show would be if it’s a genuine, critical overhaul of everything they did in the original show, reworking many key aspects of MANY characters, no matter if the main anecdote remains intact. And considering how highly self-critical the recent ATLA-related content has been, I doubt I’ll get my wish. So... good luck to everyone who wants to watch this liveaction, have fun, I won’t spoil it for you by dumping on it this time as I did with the comics, but I certainly won’t be joining any of your parades much either :’D

#anon #the promised polemic subject of liveaction changes #honestly *shrug* #live and let die man #we have the original canon #and I'm way too busy with Gladiator to suffer much about what they'll do with the rest of Avatar #it's highly unlikely the new comics and show will feature anything I'll be dying to see #my optimism with this franchise is basically gone and I'm only here for my corner of the fandom #everything else is other people's business

[bill-the-baker]

I’ve also decided to finish this decade with something more light-hearted, detailing the many trends that one can associate with the past ten years. I styled this picture in a similar fashion to those gaudy collages you have relating to the 1980s and 1990s, with this mainly being reflected in the style of this picture. The title of the picture holds a very minimalist design, and is shown from inside a phone, whilst the rest of the poster has a dull white background. These main design choices were added to reflect the omnipresence of smartphones in this decade, as well as the general trend of Minimalism, which has been followed by many companies in recent years. The decision to make the background seem plain was not completely because I’m feeling lazy, but because I tried to follow the trend of minimalism, a trend I personally hate because of how boring it is (I probably would have added in a pretty pattern if there was some other major design trend).

Beyond this though, there are a few other things I chose to add in to reflect the 2010s:

-Ragecomics- The basis of most early-2010s memes.

-Skrillex (or rather Dubstep in general)- A key figure in a genre of music that you either loved or hated.

-Obama- A fantastic President who laid the groundwork for change that will hopefully be built upon in the future.

-Hipster culture- Fresh-out-of-college rich kids who made avoiding the mainstream a mainstream trend.

-The Occupy Movement (“We are the 99%” sign)- A promising post-Great Recession movement with disappointing results.

Gay Rights- Gay marriage is now legal in places like the United States, and homosexuality is more accepted the western world, so much so that companies are now no-longer afraid to pander to them whenever June comes around. Still, other parts of the planet have yet to change their outdated ways.

Trans rights- With people like Caitlyn Jenner and Leelah Alcorn, Transgenderism has arrived into the forefront of social issues, though it remains a strongly divisive issue throughout the decade.

Drones- Like helicopters but smaller and cheaper.

Overwatch- An interesting game that offered a unique personality to the shooter genre in a decade oversaturated with annual Call of Duty releases.

Cuphead- A challenging run-and-gun platformer with a Golden-Age animation-style, showcasing what can be made through video games these days.

Minecraft- The game that doesn’t die. It defined the childhoods of many gamers who fondly remember the early-2010s, and has since made a major resurgence in the decade’s end.

Steven Universe- A much-loved show that offered many unique and progressive themes, which I can admire despite my mixed feeling for the show itself.

Gravity Falls- A show aimed at children didn’t have to be this immersive and interesting, but Alex Hirsch and his team did it anyway and offered the world two seasons of hilarious and yet gripping television.

Political correctness/Woke-ness (“That’s Offensive” speech bubble)- Something that has been pushed to death among the political mainstream, but especially by the Left, as people are silenced whilst others demand safe spaces to keep their precious feelings from being hurt. Political correctness is a somewhat-trend that is better off staying in this decade.

Shrek- Whilst the 2010s have been starved of a new Shrek film besides the contested “Shrek Forever After”, the “Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life” greentext story, despite its crude subject matter, has made the brutish but kind ogre a mainstay in meme culture, whilst offering people the opportunity to explore the nuances of the franchise, after growing up with the character.

Pewdiepie- Starting out strong in the decade, making a name for himself as “that funny Swedish guy who screams as scary games”, an incident in February 2017, in which he was called a Nazi by the mainstream media, resulted in him becoming a more independent and politically incorrect figure, before going on to unite the internet in a battle for the most subscribed YouTube channel against a corporation. He lost in the end, but it was fun while it lasted.

Tyler, the Creator- Offering a unique sound among waves of forgettable Pop music, Tyler evolved from an edgy but somewhat humorous rapper, to an interesting and poignant singer in this past decade, achieving near-mainstream success.

Marvel Cinematic Universe (Endgame logo)- Many mainstream cinemagoers are bound to have seen at least one of these groundbreaking movies in cinemas, with their intense action and perfectly balanced humour, all culminating in the outstanding films “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”.

Death Grips- Unlike anything that has ever been popular among general audiences, the exciting tunes concocted by MC Ride and Zach Hill have remained in the minds of many younger and more alternative individuals.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic- Arguably the most unlikely of fanbases to come around in this decade, this re-imagining of an 80s cartoon series had a style of humour and storytelling that peaked the interests of a group of adult men known as “Bronies”, who’s reasons for being interested were questioned and much of the internet hated them, but they were certainly something to behold throughout these years.

The 2016 Presidential Election (Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump)- A time many can regard as the branching-off point between the first and second halves of the decade, as the extremes of both sides were exposed to the world with astonishing results.

Vine- A social media platform that has since disappeared off the face of the Earth, but brought about many notable celebrities and memes that are often remembered by younger generations.

Vaporwave- Alongside Hipsters, Vaporwave was perhaps one of the few examples of a concrete “counter-culture” movement, offering an anti-Capitalist message within its use of music and iconography from the 1980s and 1990s. Since then, it is best known for offering a warm and interesting “aesthetic”.

Pepe the Frog- A frog best known for saying “Feels Good Man” earlier on, was later used by certain Right-wingers and has since been touted as a symbol of hat. But, with a smug grin like that, it appears that he doesn’t seem to care about what others say.

Social media- It already played a massive role from the mid-2000s-onwards, but now, the scale of social media has grown exponentially, with people moving away from mainstream news and entertainment and instead choosing to get their kicks on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. This focus on gaining the news from social media has held some negative consequences as fake news continues to fool gullible Boomers.

Hyperbeast fashion- In terms of fashion, the Hypebeast is the late-2010s’ version of the Hipster, though unlike Hipsters, who are financially-independent rich kids who make questionable purchasing decisions, Hypebeasts are often preteen/teenagers who suck money out of the credit cards of their rich parents.

Adventure Time- A rather interesting cartoon that started off as a fun show to get high to, but evolved into a gripping epic with an expansive lore and interesting world.

Minions- While they were rather annoying to older viewers following their introduction in the otherwise top-tier film Despicable Me, children and especially 40-something year-old Facebook Mums couldn’t get enough of these wacky tic-tacs.

Brexit- A subject that I, as a Brit, couldn’t seem to get away from in the past few years, as politicians refused to move forward with the people’s decision. But, with the Tory majority in Parliament, as depressing as that sounds, it seems possible that we can finally move on as a country to more important matters.

Vaping (Juul-smoking mouth)- Recovered chain-smokers and rebellious teens have made this trend a popular pastime, though its popularity has waned recently over health concerns.

Doge- Whilst it began as a singular image of a cartoonish-looking Shiba Inu making a weird face, as brightly-coloured Comic Sans surrounds her, this dog has become the subject of many surreal and unique memes, taking on many different forms, solidifying the transformative nature that all memes should strive for.

Hoverboards, Fortnite, Dabbing, and Fidget Spinners (The monstrosity on the bottom-right)- What do a handle-less Segway, a more cartoony (but somewhat better) version of PUBG, a dance based off of post drug-taking sneezes and small bits of metal for Autistic children have in common? They have all ascended to levels of annoying trends that at least some people have had fun with.

Undertale (Sans)- An interesting game that has gained a heavy degree of fame for its interesting themes and interesting characters, some of which have been admired a bit too much by certain teenage girls.

As for my personal experiences of this decade, I can say that, whilst I was born in the early-2000s, I was definitely raised in the 2010s. Much of my memories of the previous decade are rather minimal, and I didn’t follow that many trends considering I only lived on constant repeats of SpongeBob by the start of this decade. Since then, though I have gained many impactful memories from these past few years. Some good, some bad, some great, all of which were a part of growing up. In about two-weeks’ time, I will finally become a legal adult, and shall begin the rest of my life. So, I wish you all well, and hope your Twenties are truly roaring!

#2010s #2010s nostalgia #collage #retrospective

[takashisnatsume]

Vinland Saga Episodes 1-5 Review

Ah, Vinland Saga. Where do I even begin? Cards on the table, I'm almost certain this is a masterpiece in the making and that anyone who sleeps on it is going to regret it.

I'm here to tell you, if you're on the fence about giving this show a shot: Do it. It's worth it.

If you gave it a try and found the first couple episodes didn't grab you initially: Stick with it. It's worth it.

If you're a fan of the original manga who's unsure about retreading old ground or you're fearful at what an anime might do to sully the perfection of your precious, precious baby: Rest assured. It's worth it.

If you're squeamish about a series exploring all the lovely topics associated with vikings including murder, pillaging, slavery, and sexual assault in a way that is unflinching in its portrayal of brutality but doesn't use it to gratuitous effect: Maybe try to push past it for the sake of a compelling narrative but take care of yourself first and foremost and know that a good show or a great one isn't worth your health. Drink some water. Pet an animal. Give this one a pass with my blessing and feel no guilt or shame in putting yourself before some Chinese cartoons.

Full disclosure, I benefit from having the entire source material available at this time under my belt, so while it will definitely sway my opinions of the series going forward since I'm not going in completely blind, new fans will still find this very enjoyable. With a series like this, it's very easy to let the overwhelming hype heighten your expectations past a reasonable level only to be let down.

This is not that type of show.

Or at least, for me it wasn't, because I was initially immune to the hype. I'd passed up on Vinland Saga before this. I knew about it only in the vaguest sense and ignored recommendations to give it a chance. I dismissed it as a violent gorefest for dudebros obsessed with Preserving Western Values, one that prioritized pandering to the exact type of person who's a little too interested in sweeping proclamations about his proud warrior heritage in this day and age. I went into the first episode of the anime with a vague sense of disinterest but a willingness to be impressed.

One episode, and I was intrigued. Two episodes, and I was invested. Three episodes, I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on the manga so I could see how the set-up would conclude. I tore through 160+ chapters at record speed and I'm a willing convert here to spread the good word that we're in for a wild ride if all goes well. Tears will be shed. Fists will be pumped. Conceptions will be challenged and layers will be uncovered.

But that's all future predictions. What about right now? Well, this early on, we've got some beautiful worldbuilding, breathtaking scenery, and characters who, while not extremely fleshed out just yet, do have hints of hidden depths just begging to be explored. The voice work that goes into bringing these characters to life is impeccable, with special mention going to our main character's child voice actress for an absolutely chilling performance in the fourth episode. We're encouraged to see this world through the eyes of its protagonist: equal parts idyllic and exciting, where the simplicity of childhood clashes with a cold dose of reality that comes knocking at the front door and bringing with it an end to the notion that adventure waits just around the corner for the brave and pure of heart.

Poetry aside, life's a real kick in the teeth, and whether it's the present day or the 11th century, that ain't changing. What, were you expecting a happy show? It's heavy and at times emotionally draining, yes, but carries with it a kernel of hope that grows as the narrative progresses onward. This series aims to deconstruct the bog-standard motivation of vengeance before reason, honor before morality, and warrior pride before compassion and empathy.

Now, to moderate expectations: You may not be impressed by the pacing. Vinland Saga is a sprawling epic that takes places over the span of 17 years and counting, and it takes its time getting to where it needs to go in the beginning. It thoroughly fleshes out its world and makes it feel truly lived-in, with anime-original scenes to keep the manga readers on their toes and fill in the gaps left by the source material. This is not a show with blazing fast traction, it's a slow burn, and it's one of the best examples I've seen in anime to date. We start out with our protagonist as a young child and stick with him throughout the entirety of his journey into adulthood, which means we're not going to see the full brunt of an unstoppable killing machine right away.

Some people (like me) really jell with this kind of methodical, thoughtful pace, but others might be bored to tears and just want to see some guys hack pieces off of one another like god intended. I urge you to settle down and let the story unfold. Be patient. It's coming, and it's worth the wait. (Or just read ahead in the manga like I did and spend the next several days stewing in a pool of your own tears, that works, too.)

In the meantime, if you don't need a bloody battle every two minutes to keep your attention focused, you can instead feast your eyes on the beautiful artwork and animation, particularly the backgrounds. It's WIT Studio of Attack on Titan acclaim at the helm here, so it comes as no surprise that Vinland Saga is an audiovisual treat, but I found myself constantly taken aback by just how lovely it consistently was. Some of you might find the occasional CG jarring, but here it's used sparingly and effectively, so I had no issues with it whatsoever. Where the series really shines is its background artwork and its environments, how it makes everything feel vibrant and true to life. The sound design goes even further in selling the idea that we're really experiencing Europe from a thousand years ago. The music is unobtrusive when it needs to be and used to stunning effect in its most important scenes. From a purely technical standpoint, everything here is rock solid and builds a strong foundation for the story to build from.

So, where does that leave us? While I think the Vinland Saga adaptation exceeds expectations and could turn out to be the overall best way of experiencing the narrative if its current quality holds up over the course of its run, the only way to know for sure if it's everything I've promised is to experience it for yourself. Dedicate a solid hour and a half to let this show transport you into a bygone age set over a millennium ago, and if you walk away disappointed after that, no amount of throwing you against this wall is going to give you a breakthrough.

There's no such thing as a story that's perfect for everyone, but for me, Vinland Saga was exactly what I needed it to be, and I can't overstate how eager I am to see where it takes me. I hope it does the same for you.

#Vinland Saga #anime review #anime recommendation #personal #summer anime 2019 #I'm just so passionate about this series

[ryunocore]

Why the “EVNs are garbage” meme won’t just die on its own, and how you can help kill it.

If you like anime and can use the internet, you probably heard about Visual Novels at this point. If you’re familiar with those, you probably know that short of a few titles, the ones produced in the West are not regarded with the same care as their Japanese counterparts.

That was a huge understatement, by the way. It is not uncommon for a developer to have a tremendously negative response when announcing a project even on communities dedicated to the appreciation and consumption of VNs. Expletives are thrown around as soon as the word “English” shows up without being immediately followed by “Translated”. But if downvotes on Reddit weren’t bad enough, a more common alternative is worse from a marketing point of view: being completely ignored.

After years watching the same thing happen over and over, I came up with a two-step hypothesis on why the stigma remains in spite of some very successful individual projects we managed to get over the years in our camp. We all wish it was just a meme we could shrug off, but  realistically, the self-depreciating attitude is in fact layered and is probably not going away without active effort. Here are the two main reasons:

History does not get rewritten over night, and preferences are even hard to change: the public opinion of a lot of EVNs is that they are, in fact, low-effort, unfinished, unpolished messes made trying to emulate JVNs to a T, but not bringing a lot to the table regarding things players actually want, thanks to people being biased against local projects versus “muh glorious Nippon” and also the fact they're so easy to produce that dozens of cheap products do populate the market and lead to a similar stigma people have against Unity games being just buggy physics tests or Android games being all Flappy Bird clones. Plain and simple guilt by association, a direct result of the early roots of EVNs, indie/amateur projects made by fans, not stacking up to the state of the Japanese industry at the time, with a literal decade on their belts by the time Ren’Py, the most accessible tool for development of Visual Novels in the West, got released. Now, this isn’t a phenomenon exclusive to EVNs; western webcomics and web novels inspired by manga are largely shunned by many, and there is much surprise when a foreign author is published by a Japanese company to this day in spite of some successful cases such as No Game No Life, or the South-Korean artist Boichi. However one wants to look at it, there is an inherent bias in western anime culture fans towards Japanese products that pushes away all others. 

Other developers: in order to not be associated with what many consider to be low quality products, many devs attempt to stand out. Unfortunately, the natural pendulum reaction to this constant push towards a perceived standard of quality in less than amicable ways, a.k.a. "my game is not like these other games, it's made with passion and not just this or that aspect for easy sales", which sure, is just a variant of "fake it till you make it" but does lead to a heavily competitive environment masked by niceties on a surface level. It should not be unexpected that toxic practices will take place in anything involving people and potential profits, but jealously stemming from comparison between userbase and financial rewards over genres leads to a tribal division among people who are, for all intents and purposes, on the same boat. Out of bitterness, it becomes easy to write off projects that pander to the public’s libido and end up being widely more successful than the average mystery thriller as low-hanging fruit grabbers... and they can be. The problematic aspect of this is assuming and perpetuating the idea all projects of a subgenre are by default worth less than what you consider to be “genuinely good”.

Basically, what I mean is: the whole perception that devs have of what is a valid effort in EVNs is our half of the problem. We can’t single-handedly fix years of conditioning on the public, there’s no one project that can change the scene on its own. You can’t convince other devs to care about the scene while (sometimes indirectly) attacking projects that are successful with backhanded compliments. You can’t encourage people to care for a scene if your marketing strategy relies on distancing yourself from it. The joke won't go away because it takes a lot of active effort to realize and accept that while popularity isn't a direct quantitative for quality, pandering to the audience does not make a project inferior regardless of how mad one gets at their attempt at a kamige not making anywhere near as much money and that in itself also does not mean you have a worse project.

However, this is where resentment starts for a lot of people. Those tend to be the ones who feel the need to prove themselves as not that kind of project as if not appealing to a huge segment of the population is a selling point or something similar. If your goal is money, yes, there are better ways to appeal more to a market than other approaches because statistically there are more people interested in anime girls with large bosoms than angsty boys who carry an ancient evil in their left eye. And sure, ideally every game would get funded on Kickstarter or get good sales.

But the truth is, there is nothing stopping you from doing either or both projects but yourself. And while one userbase might have a bigger number of interested people than the other, success comes from people taking a chance on your specific project with their time or hard-earned money, not just on a genre. Your project will need to speak for itself, and whether you use an innovative gimmick or eye-catching art, that should be enough. This cycle of putting others down based on their choices and wondering why the public perception stays the same and devs don’t seem to give out genuine feedback based on their experiences is a major issue that needs to be remedied.

There is no one true genre. There is nothing wrong with making fanservice-y games. There is nothing inherently good about making a serious game either. Nothing is a badge of honor. Whatever you do, it’s just entertainment. If the public doesn’t respond to your project, it is not another dev’s fault. And lastly, eroge does not need to be more than “just eroge” to be valid as a form of entertainment.

tl;dr weebs will hate your stuff regardless because you’re not Japanese, stop trying to change their minds and give them time to grow out of it; celebrate your features without comparing to other projects if you want a better scene and pray to God everyone else will too or the scene won’t progress even if we get more successful projects.

#vn #visual novel #visualnovel #anime #gamedev #rant #essay #evn #business

[ayabaiii]

Why I’m so nuts for YOI

YOI flipped my switch in a big way, in a head-over-heels way, in a Victor-dancing-with-Yuri-at-the-GPF-banquet-and-realizing-this-was-it way, and I’ve been thinking lately about why it is that I love it SO much. There are so many reasons. A million reasons. A gazillion reasons under the cut because I’m not as cruel to stick this much text at once into your dash.

Sexual desire can be a positive thing: In most Asian media (dramas, anime), sex and desire is usually treated as deviant- if you want it, you’re a slutty slut or a comical horndog, or it has to be way crazy kinky nonconsensual porn shit. In most Western media, it isn’t treated well either- I just finished watching Big Little Lies and sex is all about shame, rage and violence in that series. But in the world of YOI, Victor is super hot for the cute guy who challenged his rinkmate to a dance off, then proceeded to strip and pole dance, THEN CAPPED IT ALL OFF BY SWEEPING HIM OFF HIS ACTUAL FEET, and then he choreographs a skating routine about SEXUAL LOVE about it and ends up making Yuri skate it. A lot of fandom seem to write Yuri off as a delicate flower who knows nothing about sex, but were you all watching the same series as I was? He basically has a sexual awakening as a preteen watching stupid pretty Victor twirl around with his stupid pretty hair and covers his entire bedroom with sexy posters of him (there are posters where Victor isn’t even skating, they are more or less posters to jack off to). He literally says that he is the only person in the world who can satisfy Victor. I’m shit at translating but the Japanese dialogue and narration in the series (I should just watch the blurays because I find the english subs on crunchyroll distracting and not particularly accurate) is... pretty sexy too. They’re in love, but they’re also SUPER attracted to each other, and that’s ok- better than ok, really, because great sex is a cornerstone of healthy and happy long-term relationships. 

The fact that they’re both the same gender is never an issue: No angsting about sexual orientation. Neither party wishes they were a girl (which happens every so often in yaoi). No pandering or queerbaiting. This series is a straight-up romantic comedy: person A meet-cutes person B, person A and person B fall madly in love. No one gives them any shit about it (except Yuri Plisetsky, but my head canon there is that he has an unconscious crush on Yuri Katsuki and is mad as shit that stupid perfect Victor swooped in and stole him away) 

No stupid romantic subplot friction: No super retarded misunderstandings that could be avoided by just talking to each other (I’m looking at you, every Korean drama ever made), no evil love rivals, no contrived situation with parents or other authority figures trying to keep the main couple apart. Their main issues are what most couple’s issues are: proper communication, compromise, and learning what it means to operate as a unit. I also love love love that when Victor gets jealous and possessive in the Yuri on Stage skit, he doesn’t demand to know all the details of whoever he thinks Chihoko is, he doesn’t close off and make it so Yuri only ever talks to him, he drunkenly scrawls “Surpass Chihoko” on Yuri’s naked back, and then proceeds to climb a public edifice naked and scream his love from the top. And when he demands Yuri do it too, instead of telling him he’s crazy or to get down or having a fight, Yuri just strips and gets up there too, to make his stupid hungover husband feel better.  

A realistic portrayal of love: Victor and Yuri are attracted to each other, but the reason they fall in love is that they really get along and like being around the other person. They have fun, they make each other laugh, they excite and surprise each other, they slowly open up to each other, they bicker and squabble because being in love doesn’t mean your partner doesn’t annoy the shit out of you sometimes. Most anime and media treat falling in love like some magical thing that makes your life instantly perfect, which is not the case in real life. They also treat falling in love as a mysterious and sudden thing you have no control over, and honestly for the most part it is, but that’s limerence, not love. Victor and Yuri actually fall in love and stay in love. Their lives are immeasurably better with the other person in it. They fill in each other’s spaces. 

Realistic portrayals of mental conditions: I stay away from saying mental illness because I think anxiety and depression are things most people experience at some point in their lives- some just have it to a deeper or lighter degree than others. Yuri and Victor are both high functioning- Yuri in his anxiety, Victor in his depression. A lot has been said about Yuri’s anxiety, especially given than he’s the narrator of 11/12 episodes, but I was actually hugely impressed by the nuanced and realistic depiction of Victor as a high functioning depressed person. He’s clearly bored and sad and lonely, hugely craving human connection and feeling cut off from people because of his godlike status: every connection he has is in relation to his sport, and they all want something out of him, so when he falls in love for the first time, he ends up becoming a coach because he thinks that’s all he has to offer Yuri to make him fall in love with him too. I honestly don’t think Victor has ever thought about being a coach, nor is he interested in staying one after Yuri: the entire thing was basically a crazy grand gesture to make the cute boy from the banquet fall in love with him (well, in his defense, it worked, so good job Victor). Victor’s only real connection seems to be to his dog, which struck me as enormously and terribly lonely. Hopefully we’ll learn more about his family in Season 2. 

Realism about bodies and how much fucking work it is to be hot: I just spent an hour and a half at the gym so this is on my mind LOL. Most anime and tv shows gloss over the sheer amount of work it actually takes to be a certain shape, and I already knew from episode one where Yuri gains weight after his depression from a seemingly endless onslaught of FML that I was in for the good shit. Any hot person you know who claims they just sit on the couch eating hot wings all the time is a goddamn liar. I’m no longer sample size because I don’t have time to spend 2-3 hours in the gym every single day and I like to have some fried chicken and chips and ice cream now and again. Now, I had some discussion with male friends when I forced them to watch it last week as to how feasible it was for Yuri to lose all that weight in basically a week, and they claim it’s doable / they’ve done similar before, but I think part of episode 1 shows Yuri as an unreliable narrator who seems to think he’s WAY fatter than he is (which is part of the nature of anxiety), so he was probably, like, in actually 10-15lbs or so heavier than his GPF weight vs how he’s portrayed in the anime in the comical fatty-fat-fatty sequences. Victor is also super cut but it looks like he’s always biking/skating when Yuri’s skating /probably spends a lot of time working out to keep that amount of muscle tone (he’s also clearly vain af so you better believe he is all about the gainz).

Body positivity about squishiness: And this is not in a pandering or condescending way. Victor is affectionately into Yuri’s squishy off-season tummy in the Yuri on Stage skit, and Yuri’s objections are only really that they’re in public and around other people while he’s playing with it. I always interpreted Victor’s saltiness about Yuri’s weight / forcing him to get back to his GPF weight when he first arrives in Hasetsu not as Victor actually caring about Yuri staying hot or not, but as Victor being a petty little bleep because he’s annoyed that he showed up just like Yuri asked and Yuri kind of ended up giving him a weird awkward cold shoulder instead of fucking him into the nearest mattress. And in any case, speaking of saltiness...

People can be petty af because they’re human: Victor is a lowkey asshole (the kind of person who’s so beautiful and talented they’ve been able to get away with just about anything because everyone gets blinded by lasers of HOT PERSON IS TALKING TO ME) but still immensely likeable. And Yuri is a lowkey asshole too- see his HAAAAH reaction to Victor’s baiting about past lovers, or his constant poking of Victor’s hair whorl. He’s really likeable too. Sometimes it’s ok to be petty af.

I really wish that a series like Yuri on Ice had been around in my formative years. One of the biggest reasons I love it so much is I feel like it can have such a positive influence on young people- on people who struggle with anxiety and depression, with people who struggle with simultaneously being on top of their game and not feeling good enough. More importantly, I think it gives a really great primer on the RIGHT way to be in love. My college best friend was a philosophy major and one of her professors once said in class “If it wasn’t for movies, no one would ever fall in love,” and looking back on toxic relationships I’ve been in and people I shouldn’t have slept with, it’s most likely I used tv and movies as a primer for what seemed like socially acceptable behaviour for love: tumultuous drama as PASSION, jealousy and possessiveness as being marked by a great love, sex as a substitute for emotional intimacy. Being older and wiser and through the gauntlet I know a lot more now about what’s good for me, but if I’d had something like Yuri on Ice back in my teens, I think I would have made some better decisions. So I’m glad a series like this is out there now. Hopefully it’ll make a new generation of young’uns (or even old’uns!) make better decisions than I did (well, most of them, anyway. I had a lot of fun, and you should too)

#yuri on ice #yuri!!! on ice #why i love yoi #the longest post ever made #sorry not sorry

[sage-nebula]

Things I’m requiring from the new swimming anime movies, in order:

Canon MakoHaru

Canon SouRin

Canon ReiGisa would be a bonus, since there isn’t a movie focusing on one or both of them. Like, there’s an entire movie of focus on Rin and Sousuke, so I’d expect SouRin from that. Likewise, the movie focusing on Haru should give us canon MakoHaru.

And I know, I know---saying I expect canon ships seems kind of entitled, but listen, KyoAni has set this anime up to be basically nothing but very, very pretty queerbait with an actually engaging and emotional plot that none of us expected (well, okay, I didn’t expect it). Especially in the case of MakoHaru, the producers have gone so far as to say that they’re soulmates (and ditto for SouRin, actually). My tag for them is full of content from interviews, dramas, et cetera where the producers have gone on, and on, and on toward all but blatantly saying, “yeah, they’re in love, together 5ever, it’s canon.” Hell, in the MakoHaru mook, Haru flat out said that he thought of being home, and then ended up at Makoto’s place, come on.

But the fact remains that it’s not canon. It might as well be canon, but it’s not, which is what makes it queerbait. The thing is, they don’t have a fucking excuse anymore. I used to give them a pass because Japan is woefully behind on LGBTQIA issues (not that America is much better, don’t get me wrong) and so I could understand why a queer relationship wouldn’t be openly presented in a mainstream anime that isn’t specifically in that genre. That’s why I was giving Takahashi a pass for not making YuuJou canon (until he fucked everything up because he forgot his own manga and sold the fuck out to Studio Gallop but whatever). But that excuse does not exist anymore thanks to Yuri On Ice. Granted, YOI had a hell of a time airing from what I understand, but nonetheless, I haven’t even sat down to give it a proper watch and I can tell you that just from what I have seen Victuuri is canon. It is. I know there are people looking at it just from a western perspective that had trouble understanding, but as someone who really has studied Japanese media and social cues (not that I’m an expert, I am not by any means, but I’ve put in some effort to study this), I can tell you that they are undeniably canon. There’s a reason why the Japanese fans were so excited, particularly those who are queer.

So with that said---if Yuri On Ice can do it, there is no goddamn excuse for why the swimming anime can’t. Maybe the swimming anime couldn’t back in 2013 when it first released (or was it 2014? whenever it was), but now that YOI has opened that door, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be able to now. Why else make new movies like this, hm? Why else create new footage? They have an opportunity here. They have an opportunity to make it right. Yeah, sure, you can make the argument that “if they make one ship canon that will completely alienate the rest of the fanbase” but the thing is that, from my understanding, MakoHaru is the most popular ship among Japanese fans anyway, hence why the Starting Days movie starred them. And even setting that aside, that’s the relationship they developed the most. That’s the relationship they’ve insisted, time and again, are literal soulmates who need each other. Whatever fans are pissed off will learn to fucking deal with it, and I’m sure that KyoAni would rather have some integrity as storytellers versus just pandering to every single corner of the fanbase. (Of course, I could be wrong. Who knows.)

Point is---they don’t have an excuse anymore. I’m not giving them one with this. They’re creating three movies, one of which curiously focuses on one of the couples that didn’t get to have a proper resolution (SouRin), and the other which focuses on their protagonist, who went to Tokyo with Makoto at the end of the series. Like, I’m not asking for a lot here after all of the teasing and queerbaiting they’ve done. I feel like I’m not asking for a lot. And YOI has opened the door for them, YOI has shown that this is possible, YOI showed that it’s possible and still got a second fucking season how incredible is that, so . . . KyoAni, playtime is over. Kid gloves are off. Do the fucking thing or I’m pretty much going to be salty at you forever. Give us the representation you’ve baited us with this entire time or so help me, I’ll never forgive you. 

Rant over.

#/ #// #/// #//// #///// #swimming anime #MakoHaru is my main priority but like #you're having an entire movie focusing on Rin and Sousuke #if that's not a set-up for some canon SouRin idk what tf is #and of COURSE i'd like canon ReiGisa but again: #we're not getting a Rei movie or a Nagisa movie or a ReiGisa movie so like #i'm not EXPECTING that #but a SouRin movie and a Haru movie? we're getting those #and in the case of Haru specifically it focuses on him after the series ends #so make them canon KyoAni or SO HELP ME #YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EXCUSES ANYMORE #YOUR EXCUSES ARE *GONE* #KID GLOVES ARE OFF PLAY TIME IS OVER #GET IT THE FUCK TOGETHER OR //SO HELP ME// #I WILL MAKE SO MANY SALTY POSTS HERE ON TUMBLR #I WILL MAIL YOU A MORTON'S CANISTER #//SO HELP ME KYOANI I'M NOT KIDDING//

[hrrraandm]

Yet another tag meme

Lets do this thing! Why not take a break from negativity and learn about each other? ☺

I was tagged by: @senosonia ;D

1. Who are you named after? - That’s kind of a complicated question. My English name is Madeline, my mom says that she named me after that children’s book “Madeline” because she wanted me to be brave and a leader, just like Madeline was. My dad says that I was named after Mary Magdelene, as in the Jesus lady. My Chinese name is Yáng Yì Xuān, which wasn’t really named after anything. It was just a nice name my mom came up with.

2. Last time you cried? - I can’t really remember... I don’t know, while I was watching My Hero Academia?

3. Do you like your handwriting? - I kind of have a love-hate relationship with my handwriting. While on one hand, I feel extreme love when I think I wrote something especially pretty, and when I admire how I loop my G’s and Y’s, I hate it when people struggle to tell the difference between A’s and E’s, and when my mom criticizes my handwriting and tells me it’s sloppy.

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? - Salami <3

5. What is your favorite book? - Probably Lord of the Flies?

6. What is your favorite movie? - I guess The Road to El Dorado, I grew up with it and it remains one of the most nostalgic movies for me. But I also love Akira, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Legend (1985).

7. Would you swim with sharks? - Yes, but only with safety equipment and professional instruction.

8. Would you bungee jump? - Yes.

9. What is your favorite kind of cereal? - Either Life or Rice Krispies.

10. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? - Yes, it’s a pain sometimes.

11. Do you think you’re strong? - I think I’m fairly strong at the moment, because I just finished my Yoga and Fitness class for first semester of high school, but now that it’s second semester and have no PE class to keep me in shape, that’ll probably change really soon. Goodbye, my almost-apparent abs and slimmer legs. :’(

12. Favorite ice cream? - Just chocolate.

13. What is the first thing you notice about a person - First, their skin tone and quality, then their nails, and lastly their hair. I don’t really notice eyes when I first meet people because I usually have a hard time meeting people’s eyes.

14. Football or baseball? - Football, but the football you play with your foot: soccer.

15. What color pants are you wearing? - Gray sweatpants, just wearing my pajamas, guys.

16. Last thing you ate? - Raisin bran, like the old lady I am.

17. What are you listening to? - At the moment, I’m listening to my sister watch Youtube videos WITHOUT USING FUCKING HEADPHONES JESUS. But in terms of music, Can’t Sleep Love by Pentatonix and Better by Regina Spektor have been stuck in my head A LOT lately.

18. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? - Like, that reddish, dark brown? Or maybe that red-violet color, because nobody wants me, and only ever use me when they can’t find red because I’m last resort and “good enough”.

19. What is your Favorite Smell? Old books, rain, and soysauce.

20. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? - I think it was a guy from my family’s church that wanted to wish my mom a happy birthday, but she was out...

21. Married? - Nah.

22. Hair color? - Dark brown, but the sun kind of bleached the bottom of my hair a little to a more reddish-dark brown. 23. Eye color? - Chocolate brown

24. Favorite foods to eat? - I fucking love homemade Chinese dumplings, Asian beef noodles, fried salmon with seasoning, white rice, turkey-ginger broth with Asian noodles, sour vegetable (I don’t know if there’s an English translation for it, I’m just doing direct translations...), hotpot meat with sauce, and soysauce-marinated hard-boiled eggs and meat. <3 I also love salami with a passion, as well as ice cream. And GUAVAS. I feel like if I keep staying on this question, I’m just going to think of more foods to add to this list, so I’m going to move on...

25. Scary movies or happy endings? - I don’t actually have a lot of experience with scary movies (with me living in a Mormon household and all), but I don’t like happy endings that are just regurgitated to pander to an audience. I guess happy endings, if they are well-deserved and make sense in terms of the overall plot.

26. Last movie you watched? - Part one of the live-action Rurouni Kenshin movie trilogy. I still need to watch the second one...

27. What color shirt are you wearing? - Navy blue.

28. Favorite holiday? - Chinese New Year, to be honest, because you get to eat lots of good food (namely: dumplings, fish, and lots of Asian candy bitches!), you get red packages (hǒng bāo), and it’s just an overall good time! There’s no pressure to do anything, like attend wild New Year’s parties, or buy everyone a Christmas gift, or get your significant other a Valentine’s gift, or dress up in the cold/buy candy to give away for free, or visit conservative relatives that unknowingly piss off and discriminate against you. It’s just a nice, fairly casual affair of friends gathering together to eat hotpot, and to wish each other the best of wishes for the new year! Plus, every Chinese New Year is animal-themed, because of the Chinese zodiac, and who doesn’t like cute animal-themed celebrations?! :D You don’t even have to do the stupid count-down thing that Western new years do, because that day is LITERALLY THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR. YOU JUST SHOW UP AND BE LIKE “YEAH, LET’S EAT”.

By the way, Chinese New Year is January 28th this year! Happy new year! Gōng xǐ, gōng xǐ xīng nián kuài le!

29. Beer or Wine? - Neither? I’m not legally allowed to drink yet. I like apple juice, though!

30. Night owl or morning person? - Definitely a night owl.

31. Favorite day of the week? - Saturday.

Let’s have some fun, take a break from negativity and learn about each other. Copy and paste into your blog and just change your answers!

I tag: @muffinpants567, @drkstars, @selphish, @mint-stone, @quietscythe, and @snorto-chan. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to!

#oops my asian is showing #i guess i've been feeling more connected to my asian side lately with new year's coming up soon and all #tag meme

[michaelmessinamediaportfoli-blog]

Anime: is it changing for better or Worse

This is a editorial piece i created for an extended project at College, it is a good example of the kind of writing i can create and the vain of editorial that i would like to create in future for potential & hopeful entertainment journalism jobs.

If you read this editorial and have any positive or negative criticism please feel free to message me that criticism. Be kind xD, this is like one of the first things i written on this sort of scale. Hope you enjoy this if you read it.

Is Anime changing for better or worse?

Anime is a Japanese pop-culture behemoth that has grown from its mid-20th century origins to a near worldwide phenomenon in the 2010s. Personally, I have been a dedicated fan of anime for around three to five years although I was aware of the medium since I was around 5 or so spending a lot of my childhood watching kid-oriented 4kids dubs of Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Anime has become one of my favorite entertainment mediums with beautifully sad movies such A Silent Voice, Thrilling Psychological films like Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue and interesting adventures shows like Made in Abyss, a great bustling fanbase and a huge amount of wonderful and genius crew members who work on anime; living and dead. However, it is also a medium that I have so many problems with from the ridiculous treatment of the people who work in it to the shaky western approach to the medium and the crazy over-saturation there is in the amount of pandering generic anime. So here at the start my opinion on anime is as follows; yes, anime is something I love and will continuously support due to the amazing content and creators in anime but as an industry it is so intensely toxic with all the behind the scenes problems it cast a bleak shadow over anime and as it continues to grow larger and goes further than ever before the shadow glooms darker.

Anime took Japan by storm in the early 1960s with Osamu Tezuka’s revolutionary animations such as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. Even though Tezuka’s work weren’t the first animes they were the first to gain a big level of traction. Tezuka’s animes led the way for other iconic animes such as 70s greats like Lupin III and Mobile Suit Gundam. The 80s booms of anime with staples such as the first Ghibli films, Akira and Dragon Ball. The 90s produced new age classics such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the shell, Pokémon, Cowboy Bebop and Sailor Moon. The 2000s came soon after adding more iconic animes with shows like Death Note, Naruto, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, One Piece and the Oscar award winning Ghibli film, Spirited Away growing the anime community to new heights.

Now in the 2010s anime is still growing in popularity with shows like Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, One Punch Man, Tokyo Ghoul, Yuri on ice, Boku No Hero Academia and the highest grossing anime film of all time; Your Name leading the future of the medium. Over the life span of the anime industry it has grown from a small medium in the 60s which was mostly based in japan to something that became a cult phenomenon outside of its Japanese home of a genre in the late 90s to becoming a near worldwide mainstream hit in modern day. The fact that each decade there is at least a handful of shows produced that gain big fan acclaim shows and are remembered years later shows that anime has always been strong in its ability to produce great content and as time progresses more and more shows are getting noticed by anime fans. In the 60s there might have been around 5-10 shows that are still remembered today, but three decades later in the 90s easily 20-30 shows have stuck with the anime fanbase to today.

Western fans of anime have gained the name Otakus a Japanese word which celebrates their love for a medium such as anime. In the internet era a term has been coined "Weeaboo" which is a negative word to call someone who is an anime fan, a Weeaboo or Weeb is someone who watch anime but stupidly and ignorantly disrespects the culture, bastardise it and acts like Japanese culture is their own culture. Let me just state for the record, most anime fans are not Weebs but a select few fit their descriptions and their loud obnoxious personalities make the public sadly see them as these derogatory things. Sadly, it is common for society to see the worst in a community and see the bad as the norm for the entire group even though it might not be entirely true. Being a fan of anime for many years I have seen into the anime fanbase and have only come across individuals who fit the weeaboo archetype maybe once or twice out of 100s if not 1000s of individuals on numerous social media platforms.

Although the anime industry clearly has hit a big level in over-saturation in the amount of series it produces, it’s large quantity has opened-up the industry to many new and great creators. In the wake of the call for more series to be produced more talent has been brought to anime. In the world of directing, new visionary directors such as Makoto Shinkai are being brought to the industry creating some of the most beautifully crafted animations ever made with great music, art and story such as his films 5 centimetres per second, The Garden of Words and of course Your Name. Great musical talent that previously was neglected or ignored by Japan is now acknowledged with artists such as TK, Myth & Roid, Teddyloid and Daoko giving their vocal talent as more opening themes are needed. New Composer, Hiroyuki Sawano has become an iconic anime composer, composing music for many action animes that have come out in the big surge of animes in the last few years. Of course, voice actors or seiyuus as they are called in Japan are still very integral to anime with them being even more needed with more animes being produced with new voice talents such as Rie Takahashi, Jun Fukushima, Sora Amamiya and Inori Minase doing numerous voices a season, although this can be very taxing on a seiyuu with low pay and over working. Whole new studios have formed to combat the demand for new animes such as the crazily imaginative studio Trigger, WIT Studio, NUT, Kinema Citrus, MAPPA and Lerche that feature talent that will go on to shape the world of anime.

Even if the landscape of anime is changing the creators of old, those who shaped the world of anime before anyone else won’t be forgotten. Works from directors such as Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Hosoda, Animes made by Studios Madhouse, Production I.G, Gainax and Bones and iconic openings from J-pop history legends such as Flow, Asian Kung Fu Generation, The Pillows, Kumiko Noma, Yoko Takahashi and The Seatbelts. The individuals who make the anime that anime fans consume and adore, have always been the shining beacon in the many problems of anime and right now more than ever with the abundance of cast and crew needed to staff all the anime is made, this beacon is shining brighter than it has ever before.

Anime is typically released in waves with a handful of shows being released every seasonal period, the seasons being; Winter season that lasts from January to March, Spring season from April to June, Summer season from July to September and finally Fall season that starts in October and ends in December and then the cycle resets.

A big problem in the anime industry in 2018 is the level of anime that’s produced; anime production has become much more quantity over quality in the past few years. With over forty-three new anime tv series being released in just the short time span of the winter 2018 season alone. Not including the eight series that are ongoing from the previous season, the four animes that came out exclusively to Netflix and the eleven-short form shows that also were released during the period. In total that’s sixty-six different anime series being released in the space between just two months, 66 in 2 months is a ridiculous amount. In winter 2016 sixty-two Tv animes were released, in winter 2014 sixty-seven Tv animes were released again similar big amounts of animes being produced, but in the winter of 2012 only twenty-six were released and in winter 2010 only twenty-one came out. 

So, what changed, well simply the anime industry grew to new heights with the birth of streaming sites, Crunchyroll and Funimation. Crunchyroll started as a website that hosted anime illegally at its creation but eventually became officially licensed in 2009 and in late 2012 to 2013 it took off as the best place for western anime fans to legally consume anime soon after it aired in Japan. Funimation is a company that has played a big part in the anime industry since the mid-90s being the main distributor for anime in the west, allowing numerous shows to be brought to home video and Tv and had a big part in the creation of official localizations of animes for non-Japanese speakers in the forms of both accurate subtitles and professional dubbing. Funimation eventually made a mark on online streaming giving the type of quality they give but online, the companies streaming is now known as FunimationNow with it primarily focusing on streaming of dubbed anime giving a majority of its subbed anime to Crunchyroll though a partnership the two companies developed in 2016. Once Japan saw this they clearly and naturally saw it as a great business venture and produced more and more content to give Crunchyroll, Funimation and their competitors, which clearly paid off as in 2015, the export value of the anime industry reached a new high of 349 billion yen and in 2016 the anime industry reached an industry income milestone of 2.9 trillion yen with a large portion being from export value. Yes, it works well in a business standpoint but is it worth the cost of the anime content itself and the backlash the fans and people in the industry have towards the over-saturation.

Others saw the success of Crunchyroll & Funimation and clearly decided to jump on the bandwagon while it’s still piping hot. Netflix and Amazon are the two biggest culprits of doing this, both streaming sites had some animes on their streaming sites prior to the anime streaming boom even though they were mostly just shows that had reached an audience outside of the usual anime sphere. Netflix and Amazons approaches to anime are in no way to the standard of streaming that we as western anime fans have come to expect with Crunchyroll & Funimation. Crunchyroll is probably the best thing to happen to the western anime scene in the 2010s, even though it has had small missteps such as the badly run Crunchyroll anime awards and its shaky legal issues in its origins. The biggest draw of Crunchyroll is the fact that they release the anime within an hour of it airing on Japanese Tv networks such as the NHK with the shows being subbed also within that hour, much quicker than some not so legal streaming sites can get the shows uploaded and subbed; with the subbing being not terribly accurate. Amazon seems to understand the importance of trying to bring new animes as soon as possible vowing to do so; when they became heavily involved in anime streaming in 2017, the airing of shows was terribly unreliable with shows sometimes appearing hours or a day late something that won’t help a new service get off the ground. Netflix for the most part completely ignored this crucial part of anime streaming, with them only bringing the animes they had the licenses for months later after they finished airing, you could argue this was done to fit the Netflix model of series being released all at once. However, with US live-action shows such as Orphan Black and Better Call Saul being added to Netflix as they air on Tv, it raises the question of why they aren’t doing this for their anime shows. They might have finally realized that they need to do simulcasts of animes to keep up with the competition as this past season they released Kyoto Animations’ long-awaited anime series Violet Evergarden as it aired in Japan, although this is one show out of the handful of shows they have licenses for in the 2018 winter period. Another reason why the streaming scene has been so successful for the last few years is because you would be able to go to one of the big two streaming sites and be able to view most of the biggest and best shows on one site for one cost. Now that Amazon and Netflix have joined the fray the licenses for animes are spread all over the streaming space. In the past you could go to just Crunchyroll or Funimation and find all the shows you’d want to watch from a new season albeit maybe one or two being hosted by smaller sites.  But now every new season five shows you want to watch might be on Crunchyroll, three might be on Netflix and two other great ones might be on Amazon. You see the problem, right? If the average avid otaku wants to check out all the shows that interest them in a release season they must pay out to get numerous streaming sites. Amazon took advantage of the anime fanbase when they got into anime streaming, gating their animes behind an extra paywall in places such as the states where you would have to buy amazon prime and then buy amazons anime strike service on top of prime; thankfully they realized the negative backlash and finally got rid of the extra paywall at the start of this year.

In the case of Netflix, you must wait months for Netflix to actually utilize the licenses they own and then you’re paying for months in between new releases with nothing new. It’s so anti-consumer the way licenses are strung around the different sites and the way that amazon and Netflix give their anime. It makes otakus feel more inclined to use illegal sites or download torrents which hurt the industry and those who work hours upon painful hours making these animes. But when they make it seem like their working against the consumer they don’t help themselves. They make the free illegal alternative sites appealing which is so wrong, with the expensive numerous expensive sites and the abnormal streaming methods of both Amazon and Netflix. Even though Netflix certainly aren’t the best when it comes to dealing with bringing Tv animes to Netflix they are trying to help the industry by funding anime studios to make animes purely for them which they can release in a binge format, with Netflix reportedly putting a large part  of their 2018 budget into funding animes, Anime would represent about a quarter of their new content. Funding shows by studios such as Bones and WIT studio who are two of the biggest anime studios who created the two biggest action series of 2017; Boku No Hero Academia 2nd Season and the long awaited second season of Attack on Titan, respectively. This has proven good for the industry with shows like Devilman Crybaby which would never have been allowed to be created on Tv due to its crazy soundtrack, unique art and very mature content now having somewhere to belong. Netflix’s approach to funding the industry could really help excel it into the mainstream and if they can do simulcasts like Crunchyroll, Netflix could take over the western anime scene.

If you have been anywhere in the anime community sphere in the past six-ish years, you have probably seen someone bashing on a little-known series called Sword Art Online (SAO). I’m not trying to beat the already dead horse that is SAO hating just trying to add to the conversation and add a view on it that I personally haven’t seen before in the numerous articles and YouTube videos on SAO, SAO’s repercussions on anime.

But just in case for anyone who hasn’t heard of Sword Art Online…Sword Art Online, is an anime based off a light novel that took over the industry and shaped it for worse. Sword Art Online (SAO) came out in 2012 to commercial success, critically the show was not a success; the show had many problems from its contrived borderline creepy romance storylines, shallow character arcs, inconsistent animation quality & its non-existence understanding of the video games mechanics when its video game based. The show is of the Isekai (another world) genre, Isekai series typically feature the protagonist getting trapped or transported in another world; in the case of SAO the protagonist, Kirito and 100s of other gamers get stuck inside of a video game. The protagonist, Kirito is a typical young adult with black hair (the most common hair colour in the world) who before entering an isekai is a socially numb shut-in and once he enters the isekai is overly powered and unbelievably hopelessly attractive to everyone. Kirito is something known as a self-insert protagonist which is a protagonist that is designed in a specific way so that the average anime watcher can easily connect to the character and practically insert themselves into the character and then get invested in the show. Even though the show is terribly flawed from a critical standpoint it was still very popular due to its intriguing concept, its self-insert protagonist and was very successful commercially. The anime industry saw the cash cow SAO became and unfortunately ran with it. Then the flood gates opened, once SAO ended numerous other anime producers created shows in similar veins. Isekai changed from something that was used sparingly in anime to something that became its own genre, every seasonal period contains one or even a handful of Isekai shows. There was also a bigger influx in the amount of self-insert protagonists where before these types of protagonist were kept to just tongue and cheek romcom harem animes, now they appear in romance dramas and even some action shows. Light novel adaptions also have become much more common place as many Japanese light novels have self-insert protagonists and intriguing yet hollow premises. Even though SAO led the way for so many trashy by the numbers samey light novel isekai animes there are some good shining through such as Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru isekai Seikatsu which starts as a basic isekai show with a self-insert protagonist that later turns into a meta character building show with surprises around every corner with twisted time travel twists. Re: Zero and maybe 4 other shows are diamonds in the much larger rough which aren’t worth the Isekai insane oversaturation that SAO caused.

Just like the west have taken anime and adapted to our streaming platforms, they have also adapted it in other ways. Hollywood have leached onto anime as of late, after anime being around for numerous years they were bound to take a stab at trying to milk it for money and now that it has gained near mainstream popularity in the last 10 to 15 years they have taken stabs. Three notable stabs from Hollywood at anime were their live action adaptations of Dragon Ball, Ghost in the shell and Death Note. These three adaptations made Hollywood a quick buck due to the names that are tied to them but were all critical failures from fans and critics alike. These adaptations completely miss what makes anime, anime. They change plot, characters, cultural differences and ultimately brutalize what made them good to begin with. The Dragon Ball movie titled Dragon Ball: Evolution was just a complete train wreck that tried to condense the entire plot of a 200+ episodes anime into a less than 90 minutes long movie with terrible script, acting and CGI. The Ghost in the shell movie and Death Note movie were still pretty darn terrible but at least they were kind of competent at being movies with decent effects, passable scripting and acting. But both just felt like empty lifeless imitations of their predecessors. Ghost in the shell turned from an iconic cyberpunk with punchy dialogue and stellar visuals to pretty much a bog-standard action sci-fi flick.

Death Note’s Live action version completely misses the originals appeal, the original anime was a tense psychological drama as we saw the protagonist Light a genius anti-hero who is popular, trying to avoid getting caught by the master detective, L; Light manipulates those close to him and practically is the antagonist even though he’s the protagonist. In the Hollywood version Light is still an anti-hero and is still trying to avoid getting caught by L but he’s not a genius and instead is a moody outcast, he doesn’t manipulate those close to him, he gets manipulated. One of the biggest parts of the anime was how Light manipulates a character called Misa Amane, we see how far he’ll go to get his goals and how far he’s fallen; in the live action its almost like the roles of Light and Misa had reversed with Misa, changed to Mia in the live action manipulating Light and makes Light have another adversary for no reason except for just creating unnecessary drama. On top of this, in the live action version they take away the tense psychological theming and replaces it with over the top gory death scenes, the Death Note anime does have death scenes but their never overly extreme just to shock the deaths in the anime are much more about how Light manged to kill them. Overly Gory deaths isn’t and never should be Death Note.

Where the west completely fails with its live action adaptions, it excels for the most part in its cartoon shows it has produced in the past few years that are heavily inspired. It is not unusual for a western media product to take influence with people like the Wachowskis siblings who were inspired by Ghost in the Shell when they made The Matrix in the 90s. But in the last few years the anime inspired western content has been much more frequent. RWBY, Castlevania, Voltron and Legend of Korra are four western shows that are very anime inspired in storytelling and animation styles. These shows are all held in high regard by fans and critics alike, largely because of how much they are like anime in the way they are more mature like anime is than the usual run of the mill western cartoon were most adult cartoons are just comedies and not serious like these four examples. Of course, there’s exceptions to these great western anime inspired shows one notably being, Neo Yokio that was co-created by the US and Japan which was poorly animated with terrible voice work and just a mess in terms of tone. Other than Neo Yokio, anime inspired western content is pretty great and doesn’t seem to be slowing down in terms of quality. This is one of the better parts of the wests approach to anime.

Japan has an overworking problem, it is something that is prominent in most Japanese industries and Anime is no different. On average an animator or mangaka (an artist for manga) work 10hrs + a day in uncomfortable conditions this is because they are paid on the amount of work they get done not on a set pay roll like a normal job. This leads to either people giving up on their anime industry dreams due to the insane pressure to get work done with short deadlines or overworking themselves to poor health; mentally and physically, or in extreme cases to death. Overworking is such a problem in Japan that the Japanese made a word to describe death by overworking, Karoshi. In the past few years industry greats have passed away most likely because of Karoshi. In 2017, Hiromi Tsuru, a seiyuu who was famous for her work as Bulma in the Dragon Ball series died from Aortic dissection which is often caused by high blood pressure. High blood pressure is very common from stress which is common in overworking in stressful conditions, so her death is most likely Karoshi. In 2010 a staff member at the animation studio, A-1 Pictures committed suicide; Shinjuku Labour Standards Inspection Office cited depression due to overwork as the cause and medical facilities caring for the staff member recorded that he worked 600 hours a month. The problem of overworking and Karoshi is already a big problem in japan and the Japanese anime industry is not helping this change, in fact its making it a whole lot worse.

I love anime but hearing about these cases are so disheartening and upsetting, I believe that anime is a great artform and it should be something that should have a lot of time focused upon it but when people are dying for the making of anime. It makes anime not worth it. As I mentioned much earlier in this essay the anime industry is making more money than it ever has at 2.9 trillion yen which translates to one billion nine hundred fifty-nine million eight hundred twenty thousand pounds. If the industry is making as much as it says why are those in the industry being payed so little, those who work in anime are payed practically pennies. In November of 2016 an animator who works for the studio, P.A Works posted a picture of their budget on their twitter and according to that budget the highest pay the animator got was 67,569 yen (£456) in October 2016. For the number of hours that the staff put in and their health that they risk just to make a living and to achieve a dream of working in anime that kind of pay is disgusting.                                                                                                       On a lighter note now that anime has opened more to the west and westerners are hearing about the conditions of working on anime in japan, some westerners are reaching out to try to support creators, so they don’t have to overwork themselves as hard such as the 2017 animator dormitory project which was a fundraiser for animators to have stable living conditions. The project was able to raise $26,442 USD to help animators.

 This whole situation gets even more ridiculous when overworked creators become too ill to even do their work. Hunter X Hunter is a very famous manga and anime series; its mangaka, Yoshihiro Togashi is clearly very overworked. Hunter x Hunter has been in publication since 1998. It is meant to be a weekly series appearing in the Japanese magazine, Weekly Shounen Jump. Out of the 20 years that its been in publication its actually only appeared in Shounen Jump 382 (39.3%) of the 971 potential times it could of. That means that in the past 20 years, Togashi could have not been payed for 589 weeks out of the 971 weeks he has been making Hunter x Hunter; we don’t know that for sure but that’s a potential reality caused by the fact that creators like Togashi are pushed to illness because of overworking to the point that they simply can’t work and if they push themselves too far karoshi could occur.

To conclude anime has changed in many ways, in some way heavily for the better but in some ways extremely for the worst. To most parts of anime there is a better and a negative. In terms of the anime that is created there is more anime being created than ever this allows greater gems to be made but then it also allows for the market to be heavily over-saturated and certain genres such Isekai are getting way too much focus upon them. There is a good fanbase surrounding anime but it’s over casted heavily by the bad vocal minority of the fanbase, so this is a change for the worse that keeps getting worse as this minority sadly grows louder. In terms of the accessibility to anime in the west it is getting a lot better but sites like Netflix are throttling this accessibility. Hollywood isn’t helping anime change for the better at all with its tarnishing versions of animes, but the anime inspired cartoons in the west are a great homage to anime. One of the best changes in anime is the great new influx of anime creators that are bringing anime to new heights. But the treatment of the creators behind the scenes is a disgusting plague on anime that is dragging the anime industry into The. Fucking. Dirt.

#editorial #anime #thinkpiece #facts #opnions #better or worse #kinda long post #second post #blogging