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impractical-info-dump · 2 months

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Kouta Hasegawa - a character analysis

I did not expect my first character analysis to be about a sanrio boys character but here we are. (Spoilers for the whole Sanrio Boys anime)

Kouta’s Childhood:

As a young kid Kouta received a Pompompurin plush from his grandma to celebrate his birthday. Kouta’s grandma was his biggest supporter at the time and a huge part of his childhood. Everywhere Kouta went he had his Purin plush and grandma with him. But due to his love of Pompompurin, other boys picked on him for having “girly interests” telling Kouta he should be embarrassed with a toy like that. One day a few boys called Kouta a girl and used the name “Koutako” to mess with him. Embarrassed and frustrated Kouta yelled at the kids in front of him and threw his Purin plush on the ground, ripping it slightly. Kouta’s grandma walked over and saw the plush, so she told him she would fix it. However Kouta was still upset from the other boy's words and told his grandma he didn't need Purin anymore. That he didn't need such a girly toy. When Kouta’s grandma tried to talk again, Kouta cut her off, telling her to shut up. Even going as far to say that he hates Pompompurin and her. He then ran off and started to distance himself from his grandma. Despite this, Kouta’s grandma fixed Pompompurin and believed Kouta would visit again someday. But he never did. Even as Kouta grew older he could never work up the courage to apologize to her, afraid of the outcome. And eventually it was too late to apologize. Kouta’s grandma passed away when he was a young teen. He was silent the whole funeral and lost in his thoughts. When Kouta returned home he spent a lot of time holding Purin and reflecting on his past choices. (as well as crying) Kouta’s regrets being too nervous to apologize and being ashamed of the things he likes. As Kouta starts High School we can see that he still isn't honest with himself.

Kouta feels that something is missing:

Kouta believes himself to be an average high school student (as most anime protagonists do) he has normal friends, gets embarrassed easily, isn't in any clubs, and lives a pretty normal life. However Kouta wishes to shine like those around him, not wanting to just stand on the side. Kouta’s a kind and caring person but doesn't think he stands out much compared to others. I think this is because Kouta still isn't honest about his Interests. If he were to open up more, Kouta's authentic self would come out. Allowing him to shine like he wants to. But we aren't there yet.

So one day while Kouta was hanging out with his friends, he came across a lost girl crying on the side of the street. And he was able to reunite her with her mom, getting her home safely. However before she left she gave Kouta a Pompompurin sticker. When Koutas friends catch up to him, one of them mentions how It would be weird for a high school guy to have something like that. Kouta laughs it off but it's clear it's more of a hesitant laugh. At dinner that night Kouta tells his parents how he feels like something's missing in his life but he's unsure what. His dad then recommends he tries to accomplish something. To go out and find a new hobby. Kouta considers this but believes it to be hopeless with a guy like him who doesn't shine. But then he sees the Pompompurin sticker laying on his bed and Kouta suddenly is reminded of the joy his old Purin plush gave him. But most Importantly he thinks back to his grandma. So Kouta pulls a box from out of the closet that he hasn't opened in 4 years and Inside we see the Purin plush. Kouta is flooded with memories of his grandma and the anime cuts away to flashbacks of them both. When the flashbacks are over we see that Pompompurin now sits on the top of Kouta’s book self. But he still isn't open about his love for Pompompurin. Not yet.

Kouta meets Yuu and Shunsuke:

(This next paragraph is chaos so please bear with me)

Kouta finds a My Melody keychain on the ground during school. On the back he finds a picture of Yuu and Shunsuke. So he finds Yuu but is unable to ask him about the keychain, worried that he might embarrass him due to Kouta’s past experiences of being bullied. Kouta runs away embarrassed but unfortunately for him Yuu saw the keychain in his hand. So Yuu begins to chase after him in the halls and eventually Yuu loses track of Kouta. THEN Shunsuke comes out of nowhere and Immediately starts asking him questions about Yuu. Yuu appears once again and explains the situation to the both of them. (Chaos, I know) Soon two girls who Kouta quickly finds out are Yuu’s friends, notice the keychain in his hand. Kouta Instantly panics, afraid of their responses but the girls are not surprised at all. Kouta is shocked by this but he doesn't say anything. He then finds out that Shunsuke likes Sanio as well with Hello Kitty being his favorite character. It's here that Kouta feels the light he's been missing and understands what he wants to do. And who he wants to hang out with. But does he have the courage to do it?

Kouta later learns more about Yuu and Shunsuke and finds out how open they are about liking Sanrio. Kouta reflects on himself and wonders if he can do the same. He meets Yuu and Shunsuke again during school next to a vending machine. Yuu asks if Kouta ran away because he was trying to cover up that Yuu liked Sanrio, so Yuu wouldn't get judged by the other students around him. Kouta quietly says yes but now knows that he didn't need to do that. Yuu thanked him anyway for considering his feelings. Kouta then admits that something similar happened to him years ago. Shunsuke looks over at him and says how Kouta knows a lot about My Melody for a guy. Yuu realizes this as well and asks Kouta if he likes Sanrio. Before Kouta can answer the bell rings and he hurries off to class.

Slowly but surely Kouta becomes more confident:

After a normal day at school Kouta heads home and is greeted by his mom once he gets there. She tells him she took care of the trash in his room. Kouta’s room is mostly the same except one thing is missing, his Pompompurin plush. He frantically searches his room but Purin is nowhere to be found. Kouta asks his mom about it and she responds with “Purin? You had thrown it away so I sent it off with the recyclers.” The anime shows a picture with the Pompompurin plush in the trash. Clearly it had fallen from the shelf and into the trash by accident, but Kouta’s mom thought he threw it away. So Kouta runs around town asking the recyclers and other people around town if they have seen the Purin plush. But no one has. Then rain starts the poor and Kouta is a frantic and stressed mess looking for his beloved Purin plush. After tripping on a puddle he sits down on the street for a while as memories of his childhood flood back to him. Kouta thinks of both Purin and his grandma. He cries in the rain and feels that he can't do anything right. Just then both Yuu and Shunsuke find him and Yuu offers Kouta an umbrella. When asked what's wrong, Kouta regrettably tells them that he had someone and something he loved, but wasn't able to freely admit it. He says that if he was more like them, things would have happened differently. Kouta admits that he's jealous of Yuu being able to love what he wants freely, without being worried of others opinions. Without ever feeling ashamed. Kouta also believes that the sooner he forgets about Purin and his grandma, the easier things will be going forward. Yuu asks “What's so wrong with admitting that you like the things you like?” and tells Kouta that “There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in loving something!” Yuu then offers to help Kouta and promises not to make fun of him. Kouta with newfound courage tells Yuu and Shunsuke that he loves his grandma and Pompompurin. Yuu helps him up and they set off to go look for the Purin plush. Shunsuke is able to get them permission to look through the recycling at some building. So all three of them work together to find the stuffed animal. It turns out to be a success and Kouta is reunited with Pompompurin.

The next day he adds the Pompompurin sticker (he got from the young girl) to his notebook and when his friends ask about it, Kouta is able to be honest and admits that he likes Purin. After school Yuu and Shunsuke bring him to Gift Gate (a store that sells Sanrio merchandise) and the episode ends with them shopping. At this point in his character Kouta is becoming more open about his interests, but still gets embarrassed from time to time. But he's clearly improving.

How Kouta affects those around him:

At some point in the week soon after they visit Gift Gate, Kouta notices how lately Yuu has been acting differently when the topic of his sister is brought up. Yuu seems to get quiet or space out which is something he never does. Kouta receives a text the next day from Yuu, complaining about how he's got a cold. So he decides to go check on him. Shunsuke is there to visit him as well and Yuu is excited to see them both. A normal conversation starts between them and eventually Yuu begins to prepare dinner for his sister. Everything is going well until Yuu’s sister, Yuuri comes home. Kouta Introduces himself to her but gets ignored as she turns straight to Yuu. She asks why Yuu is even bothering to cook when she's not going to eat it. Kouta is surprised with her behavior but Shunsuke looks as if he expected this response. She brings up Yuu’s cold and angrily asks if he wanted to get her sick as well. Yuuri continues to ask hurtful questions and starts an argument with him about all the “unnecessary” stuff Yuu does for her. Kouta then decides he can't watch anymore without doing anything. He stops Yuuri from saying another word and tells her she shouldn't say things like that. He says that Yuu was kind enough to make her make dinner even when he was sick, and that Yuu is trying his best. Yuuri gets mad at him for trying to get evolved and tells Kouta that it's none of his business. But he disagrees. Yuu is his friend and therefore he should stand up for him. But Yuuri still wants nothing to do with him so she turns to Yuu again. She yells at Yuu for being pushy and always making food for her when she never eats it. The argument from before continues but this time Yuu is in charge of it. Eventually things get out of hand and Yuu raises his hand up to slap her. But Shunsuke stops him just in time. Yuu apologizes and leaves in hopes to calm down. Kouta asks if he and Shunsuke should go after him and he agrees. But before Kouta walks out, he looks over to Yuuri sitting on the floor. Kouta tells her that Yuu really cares for her and she quietly replies with “I know that.” As Shunsuke and him leave and walk outside in order to look for Yuu, he tells Kouta that he's pretty amazing. Kouta asks what he means but Shunsuke doesn't reply. Soon after, Yuuri finds Yuu and finally apologizes for throwing the food away. She even promises to eat it the next day. (After another short argument of course but it's quick this time) The anime then shows Kouta and Shunsuke watching from the side. Now in my opinion I believe that if Kouta wasn't there that night, Yuu and Yuuri would continue to have arguments like this and she would still refuse to eat the food for a while longer. But because Kouta was able to knock some sense into her, Yuuri finally came to her senses. (and she stopped being so ungrateful)

Later Kouta even helps Shunsuke with his problems. Kouta and Yuu spot Shunsuke being scolded by his soccer teammates about their last soccer game. He apologizes and promises to do better next time. Then his captain, Matsuo walks over to him, he stops their comments but tells Shunsuke he needs to take the hint. Shunsuke is visibly confused but doesn't say anything to him. So Kouta and Yuu walk over to Shunsuke and find out they lost their last game and are apparently putting the blame on him. As Kouta tells him how that isn't fair, Shunsuke says it's none of his business. Shunsuke then states how he won't lose next time because he'll have his lucky Hello Kitty charm with him. Now what Shunsuke doesn't realize is how rude he's been treating his other teammates. We see in their next practice that when another member on his team apologizes for messing up a pass, he responds with “Dont worry about it, I’ll clinch it for us.” It seems like Shunsuke believes he's better than his other teammates, and feels the need to cover for everyone else. Kouta realizes this as he watches from the side. So Kouta asks Yuu on the phone why Shunsuke doesn't get along with his teammates and pushes them away if they try to get close to him. And Kouta tells him he's worried about Shunsuke. Yuu tells him that Shunsuke is like a cat, he cares for others but if you get too close you might get “scratched."

Because of Shunsuke’s behavior and unwillingness to corroborate with his other teammates, Matsuo removes him from the starters. Having him serve as support instead. This is devastating for Shunsuke. The next time they have practice the only people who show to watch are Kouta and Yuu. Due to Shunsuke not being a starter anymore, the typical group of girls isn't watching for him. But that's not the only people who didn't show up. Shunsuke isn't at practice. This instantly worries Kouta and Yuu and they go to look for him. Kouta finds him on a bridge about to toss his Hello Kitty charm into the water but Kouta runs and stops him just in time. Kouta begs him not to throw something that precious away, knowing from personal experience that Shunsuke would regret it. Yuu then appears behind him and invites them to play soccer without much of an explanation. On the soccer field Shunsuke is silent and lost in thought until Kouta accidentally kicks the soccer ball over the fence. He goes to scold him but then thinks of Matsuo's words about not paying attention. Yuu begins to talk to him as well but I’m focusing on what Kouta says here. Kouta asks Shunsuke why he's been running away. Why he doesn't let anyone get close to him. Shunsuke confesses that ever since his childhood best friend (besides Yuu) moved away after she gave him a Hello Kitty charm, he's struggled to face other people. Worried to get close to others only for them to leave. Shunsuke says “What's the point of even being friends with anyone when they're just going to disappear?” Before Shunsuke can continue with his sad story, Kouta tells him that he's always thought of him as kind. Kouta says “You're incredibly kind and because of that, you try to avoid hurting others.” Shunsuke disagrees and calls himself a coward for always running away. But Kouta adds in “You care, so you don't want them to hate you. So instead, you're unable to get close to anyone, right?” Shunsuke is surprised by his words. Yuu then apologizes for not noticing sooner that Shunsuke was hurting. Kouta brings up how if he can get close to Yuu, Shunsuke is able to get close to others as well. Shunsuke turns away from them but the smile is clear in his voice.

The next day Matsuo sees the difference in his behavior and makes Shunsuke a starter again. Shunsuke thanks Kouta as well. But if it wasn't for Kouta, I think it would have taken longer for Shunsuke to realize his mistakes, and he would still be pushing his teammates away. Because Yuu even didn't realize he was hurting, it was very important that Kouta talked to Shunsuke.

(Kouta also helps Ryou and Minamoto a little bit, but I’ve already made this longer than it needs to be 😅). Anyways, the point I’m trying to make here is that Kouta has a habit of going out of his way to help other people.

Kouta finds whats missing/the school festival:

After becoming friends with Ryou and Minamoto, the group of boys have lunch together and Minamoto brings up the next school festival in fall. He asks the others to let him know if they have any ideas. Kouta seems interested but he doesn't have a plan yet. However later that week on Sunday, the group of boys go to Sanrio Puroland together. Kouta gets an idea as he watches The Miracle Gift Parade, a show performed at Sanrio Puroland. He understands that somehow this is what he wants to do. That he wants to shine like the characters on stage, but doesn't exactly know what it is that gave him this feeling. Kouta just knows that he wants to shine like they do. So he thinks back to how Shunsuke shines when he plays soccer and decides to start there, joining the soccer team for practice. However Kouta soon finds out that this is not it. At all. Next he joins Ryou at the library, Minamoto at practice for the archery club, and helps Yuu with cooking. But none of these give him the same feeling that the show did. Kouta is visibly upset by this and his friends work hard to cheer him up. Then Yuu suggests putting on a show like The Miracle Gift Parade if that's what gave Kouta that feeling. So the boys decide to put on a musical for the school festival and Kouta is grateful for their help. But they need money to start working on it. Minamoto suggests that over summer break they get jobs to help save up, so by the time fall comes around they have enough money. They agreed to the idea so Kouta worked as a lifeguard, Minamoto and Shunsuke worked as movers, Ryou as a waiter, and Yuu worked in fast food. Eventually they were able to save up enough money for the musical. But now they needed a story to perform, they had to decide what the musical was going to be about.

[The group of boys go on a mini vacation here but not much character development happens during that time other than becoming closer friends with each other. They do however decide that Yuu should be the one to make the story for the musical.]

With just a month before the school festival, Kouta is really excited to continue working on the musical. He's finally found something that he really wants to do, something that will hopefully make him shine like the others. So the next day Kouta works really hard to do as much as he can for the musical, considering how he has the most free time in the group. But it seems that he might be overworking himself a little bit. That same week the group spends the night at Minamoto’s house to get more work done. They finish the last part of the script, fix up costumes, and make more props. Here they also celebrate Ryou’s birthday with a cake made by Yuu.

Kouta begins to doubt himself:

Kouta spends the morning preparing for the musical and his friends later join him for a run-through. He notices how all of his friends are more confident than they were before, how they shine almost like a world away from him. Yuu then catches him spacing off and asks him a question about the music they plan to use. So Kouta tells him that he found a website full of songs they can use for free, but he can't find the right link anymore. This really upsets Kouta because he thought he picked the perfect song. He apologizes and promises to search again. His friends try to reassure him that it's all right and they can easily find a new song. They offer to help but Kouta won't let them, he believes that because it's his mistake he should be the one to fix it. Kouta also refuses help because he wants to be great on his own without the need for his friends to do everything. So Kouta practically stays up all night to try to find a new song. Then the next day as he passes the music room he hears three girls talking about the school festival. Kouta stands outside the room and hears them bring up the musical. Each of the girls bring up the rest of his friends but call Kouta plain and they don't even remember his name either. They just refer to him as “the other one.” This reasonably hurts Kouta’s feelings but he walks away and tries to ignore them. Then he finds his friends in their usual room for rehearsing but it turns out they're missing a backdrop for one of their scenes. So Kouta flips through his notebook and finds the unfinished plans for the backdrop. He blames himself for this and apologizes, but Yuu says that it won't be a big deal if they work together. Once again Kouta notices how his friends shine without him. So he asks to finish it all on his own because it was his mistake. Shunsuke brings up how Kouta already has enough jobs but Kouta won't let anyone else do it for him. When Kouta gets home he falls over (most likely from being exhausted) and gets a fever. So he stays home for the next two days instead of going home. And Kouta feels guilty for not being able to help with the musical. As soon as he gets better Kouta goes back to school and hopes to make up for the days he missed. But when he opens the door Kouta finds that his friends have already finished the backdrop without his help. He also finds out that his friends have found more people to help out, making Kouta feel that his efforts alone weren't enough. That no matter what he does, it will never be enough. How could he hope to shine like them now?

After the day is almost over and everyone else but his friends have left, Kouta is still feeling left out and unimportant. Here Kouta confesses that he feels as if he's the extra one, that even without him, his friends still shine. That maybe he shouldn't have been around in the first place. As his friends try to prove him wrong, Kouta tells them to not get in his way. So Yuu puts his hand on him in hopes to confront Kouta, but Kouta forcefully pushes Yuu out of the way and he is knocked back pretty far and even bleeds a little. (Damn Kouta) Kouta then runs away, ashamed of hurting him. He lays in bed that night wondering why he even wanted to sparkle in the first place. Kouta then rolls over on his bed and notices his Pompompurin plush, thinking back to his grandma. But more importantly he thinks back to a promise that wasn't mentioned in the anime yet. Years ago in his childhood, Kouta promised to his grandma that eventually he would shine like other kids do. Then Kouta feels guilty and selfish for dragging his friends into his dream. As the episode ends Kouta boards a train to Sanrio Puroland alone.

Kouta’s friends confront him:

Pretty quickly Kouta's friends find him outside Sanrio Puroland. Yuu asks him if he's really gonna throw them and everything they've been through away. So Kouta confesses that it was really hard to watch everyone else sparkle, while he just stood on the side. That no one ever saw him for who he was because they were in his way. But now Kouta sees that thinking like that wrong, how could he view his friends that way? Kouta admits that it was painful to be with them knowing he could never be on their level. So he goes to turn away from Yuu and the others but Shunsuke stops him. He asks Kouta to remember what he said back to him before. Here the anime shows a flashback to a previous episode where Kouta was helping Shunsuke face other people. He tells Kouta that he shouldn't be pushing him away, when he told Shunsuke in the past to be more open to others. Ryou brings up that Kouta was the one to tell him that friends shouldn't leave each other alone. And Minamoto reminds Kouta that he was the one to tell him that it's okay to not be perfect all the time. Still Kouta can't come up with a response here so he looks away instead. So Yuu gets mad at him for not being able to choose between his friends or leaving them. Yuu then walks over to him and calls Kouta a selfish child. They get into an argument here that ends in Yuu practically yelling as he apologizes for hurting Kouta without resizing it. Reminding him that they're all just kids, that they’re just highschool students and they will make mistakes. Yuu then asks if Kouta ever had fun when they were together or if he just felt nothing but pain. Kouta responds with “Of course I had fun!” Claiming that being with them was the first time he's ever had that much fun in school. Yuu then quietly asks for Kouta to not go off on his own and holds out his hand for him. He asks for Kouta to choose his friends, to choose him. So Shunsuke, Ryou, and Minamoto do the same. Yuu also asks Kouta why he insists on doing everything on his own when he has his friends to help him. But most Importantly Yuu tells Kouta that they want to sparkle with Kouta, not without him. Kouta thinks back to his promise with his grandma once again and realizes he's always wanted to sparkle with other people. So Kouta tells them he wants to sparkle with them too but he's worried he doesn't have anything special like they do. But Yuu tells Kouta that just being with them is enough. This surprises Kouta but he finally takes Yuu’s hand, choosing to not run away from their friendship.

Kouta (and his friends) perform the musical:

As they perform the musical everything goes according to plan, except for the ending. Just after Kouta’s character in the show dies, suddenly his friends around him speak to the audience asking if they're okay with this ending. Of course the audience looks around confused and Kouta is bewildered as well. This was not in the script; his character was supposed to die and the ending come soon after. But his friends surprised him by calling upon “angels” (Kouta’s two old friends in the beginning and the help of the soccer team) to revive his character, showing the support he has from his friends. Kouta laughs it off and continues the musical with his character alive. The episode ends with tears in Kouta’s eyes as he finally feels like he's shining.

#Kouta Hasegawa #sanrio boys #sanrio danshi #sanrio #pompompurin #character analysis #my first character analysis ever #info dump #sanrio boys character analysis

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beneaththetangles · 3 years

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Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 1

Miyano is a Boys Love (BL) manga fan and Sasaki is an older boy who seems to constantly get into trouble. When they meet, Sasaki realizes pretty quickly that he has a crush on Miyano. What follows is an leisurely-paced first volume featuring the flirty Sasaki and an oblivious Miyano, who sometimes brushes off the advances as a joke. The chapters vary from longer form story-telling to quick, 4-koma bursts of bite-sized moments between the characters. It’s a slow burn story about a blossoming friendship as they share an appreciation for BL manga, with romantic overtones strewn throughout. It’s cute and innocent so far, and I may give the next volume a go when it drops. ~ MDMRN

Sasaki and Miyano is published by Yen Press.*

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 2

It took a while, but we finally got volume two of this series. It’s a FUNA story. In case you’ve never read the author’s other works—Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! or I Shall Survive Using Potions!—then you should know that a FUNA story means absurd, comical isekai adventures with a nerdy, wisecracking heroine who wishes she had a larger bust (no, seriously, why is this a thing with every FUNA protag? I don’t get it?). The unique aspect of 80k Gold is that protagonist Mitsuha can freely, effortlessly jump between our world and the fantasy world. She exploits this for all its worth—literally. While pursuing profit, she also has a chuuni moment where she calls herself the “Lightning Archpriestess,” helps a family restaurant, brings in otherworldly backup to defeat dragons, starts a blog, promotes rural economic development, and trolls Russian spies in absolutely magnificent fashion. Like FUNA’s other stories, 80k Gold is a generally lighthearted, silly tale; don’t expect especially deep characters, world-building, or plot. I had a blast reading this volume, and happily recommend it (but start with vol. 1, obviously). ~ JeskaiAngel

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement is published by Sol Press.*

Penguin Gentlemen

Do you like penguins? Would you like to read an educational manga that teaches you more about different species of penguins with window dressing of pretty manga boys running a restaurant? But mostly, do you really, really want to learn about penguins? Then Penguin Gentlemen is the manga for you. This single volume is mixes in gags while educating readers about the different kinds of penguins in the world, all the while beefy gentlemen serve as anthropomorphized versions of the individual penguins. That’s about it. There’s not really a plot to speak of—the manga is almost entirely interesting facts about penguins. But I do mean interesting! The writers provides information about mating practices, different head shapes, the differences between an Emperor and King penguin, and more. I never knew there were so many different kinds of penguins in the world! Definitely recommend even if you are only remotely interested in penguins. While it’s a Teen-rated manga, there really wasn’t any content that was problematic enough that I wouldn’t let my 9- or 11-year-olds read it if they were interested. ~ MDMRN

Penguin Gentlemen is published by Yen Press.*

Ride Your Wave

This adaptation of the lovely Masaaki Yuasa film is extremely faithful to its source material—even more so than most anime-to-book adaptations. Despite essentially being my third experience with Ride Your Wave, however, I found Mika Toyoda’s novel to an engaging read as he capably rearranges and moves the movie to narrative form, thereby creating a story that stands on its own—quite a feat considering that Yuasa’s film is visually sumptuous. Explaining the tale of the love that develops between admirable firefighter Minato and bumbling surfer Hinako, Toyoda’s writing is most effective in its gentle, funny, and sometimes weepy material centered on the relationship between the two, and particularly in how each moves the other (and others around them) to grow. The fantasy components that make up the latter half of the book never quite feel right—they’re less whimsical and moving and more disquieting and awkward—though the earnestness of the story, those elements included, pushes it forward toward a satisfying conclusion to this lovely romantic tale, which perhaps is the perfect, quick read as summer approaches. ~ Twwk

Ride Your Wave is published by Seven Seas.*

Turning Point: 1997-2008

Between 1997 and 2008, Hayao Miyazaki directed perhaps his four biggest hits: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo. Focusing on this period of unmatched success, during which Miyazaki challenged himself thematically and creatively while receiving international acclaim, Turning Point: 1997-2008 is at once a rich collection of essays, poems, interviews, and other documents by and involving the master that animation historians can bury their heads into, and a work that provides sharp insight into some of the most beloved of Studio Ghibli’s works and the director himself for those desiring a less academic read. For instance, it was fascinating to read how historic ironworks and the Emishi people fed into Princess Mononoke, but just as intriguing is Miyazaki’s philosophizing on a variety of other related subjects, from how parents and the education system do a poor job with Japanese youth to his thoughts on (and sometimes criticisms of) those he admires, like Osamu Tezuka, Akira Kurosawa, Roald Dahl, and Gary Cooper. As a collection of pieces divided by film, Turning Point sometimes lack the flow of a secondary work, but like his films, Miyazaki’s words—yes, sometimes accompanied by a grumpy, old man vibe—are imbued with an immense heart for children, the environment, and Japan, making for a work that equal parts enlightening and inspiring—much like the films of the master himself. ~ Twwk

Turning Point is published by Viz.*

The Ancient Magus Bride, Vol. 1

Purchased at a disreputable auction and spirited into the home of an imposing, demon-like entity, Chise is surprised to discover that her purchaser’s plans for her aren’t nefarious at all. In fact, she is to become the mage’s apprentice, and her natural talents and ability to see magical creatures will be honed and developed under his awkward but warm tutelage. Volume one of The Ancient Magus Bride sets the stage for a magical tale with beautiful illustrations of faeries, dragons, and Elias, the ancient mage, himself, whose character design is one of manga’s most memorable. The rest of the volume isn’t quite as outstanding as the art and design, particularly with the mangaka struggling to convey the dialogue of Britain and the language of the isle’s mythical beings, but there’s enough here, particularly with a beautiful interlude involving dragons and a conflict that ends volume one, for me to anticipate future volumes—even without personal experience from watching the anime informing me that this series is headed toward somewhere magical. ~ Twwk

The Ancient Magus Bride is published by Seven Seas.*

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Reader’s Corner is our way of embracing the wonderful world of manga, light novels, and visual novels, creative works intimately related to anime but with a magic all their own. Each week, our writers provide their thoughts on the works their reading—both those recently released as we keep you informed of newly published works and older titles that you might find as magical (or in some cases, reprehensible) as we do.

*Thank you to Yen Press, Seven Seas, Viz Media, and Sol Press for providing review copies.

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ladyloveandjustice · 4 years

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Winter 2020 Anime Overview: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun

Ok, so let’s get this out of the way first, 1. I adore this story so much and 2. Toilet Bound Hanako-kun has a horrible, horrible English title that is not actually at all representative of the story’s content and I have no idea what happened when it came to the team choosing that name. To the average English-speaking viewer/reader, this name 100% implies gross stuff and bathroom humor, and there is none in this show.

A Japanese reader on the other hand, would be more likely to recognize the name Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun as a spin on the classic ghost story “Hanako-san of the Toilet” only A BOY THIS TIME WHHHHA?” Basically, the story goes that a girl named Hanako in a red skirt haunts girls’ bathrooms in Japanese schools and if you knock on the third stall and call “Hanako-san” three times, she’ll appear. She might grant you a wish or pull you into Hell or something else, it varies.

(Her Wikipedia image, aww.)

Anyway, I dunno why the English title didn’t at least go with “Toilet Ghost Hanako-kun” or something that would have gotten the premise across even a little better (HE NOT TECHNICALLY BOUND BY THE TOILET EVEN, HE CAN GO ANYWHERE IN THE SCHOOL GROUNDS THE BATHROOM IS JUST HIS HOME BASE), but our boy Hanako haunting the girl’s bathroom only leads to broad jokes about our heroine being tasked with cleaning the bathroom and “dude you really shouldn’t be in here” comments, it’s pretty incidental.

Now that THAT’S out of the way, let’s talk about my LOVE FOR THIS STORY

Hanako-kun tells the story of a “regular” high school girl named Nene Yashiro, the mischievous and mysterious school ghost she befriends, and all the other weird monsters, exorcists, spirits and curses they encounter. It’s got a gorgeous, colorful bold aesthetic and art style that combines gothic and cute! It has a great mix of humor, intrigue, angst and fantasy action. basically if you love ghosts, monsters, Japanese mythology and legends, supernatural-human relationships, supernaturally fueled angst and drama, stories about trying to fix an unfair system the world has set up, wistful romance, a good shoujo manga with a Lot of Feelings (yes this is a shonen technically I’ll explain that later), weirdo dorks becoming friends AND MUCH MORE...this story will have something that will resonate with you. It’s got a lot going on, and it’s a ton of fun.

Hanako-kun is really one of those surprising stories that fits right into a hole in my story-loving heart I didn’t realize was still there, or that I’d actually been carrying since childhood. I love ghosts, see, and have since I was a kid!!! I knew this, but I kinda forgot how intensely I love them until this show reminded me again??? That’s because regular ghost stories/mysteries/whatever- I like them, but they don’t quite do it for me in the way more character-driven ones exploring the nature of being a ghost and humans and ghosts trying understand each other etc do. Stuff that really gets into the tragedy AND the fun fantasy aspect of ghosts, and plays the long game with it- and Hanako-kun scratches that itch perfectly.

Getting a little bit deeper into the premise of Hanako-kun, Nene is a very brave and sweet but not-all-that-bright girl (or, to put it more bluntly, she’s an idiot in the best way) who has a lot of romantic fantasies and insecurities and is VERY focused on them. After hearing a rumor at school that “Hanako-san of the bathroom” will grant wishes, she wishes to be able to confess to her crush and finds out its actually a weird ghost boy her age named Hanako haunting the bathroom! A lot of things happen, and she ends up cursed and bound to Hanako-kun, but also ends up slowly forming a friendship.

Turns out Hanako is the ghost in charge of the “seven mysteries/wonders” aka seven powerful supernatural entities that haunt this school (he’s number seven). These apparitions only supposed to terrorize students a LITTLE, because apparitions need to have rumors spread about them to remain in the human world.

(‘HAVE YOU HEARD?’ Oh hey shadow girls from Utena see you’ve moved to a new school.)

The rumors also generally dictate how powerful and dangerous the apparitions actually are- but SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS is changing the rumors around the school and making the apparitions go berserk and actually harm humans. So Hanako needs a human assistant to change the rumors and help him calm and seal the apparitions! That’s where Nene comes in.

Hanako himself is a very fun character- he’s very chaotic and revels in his whole “ gremlin ghost” persona, and is upfront about being a bit of an asshole. BUT he also makes his kindness, often good intentions and the fact he’ll have his friends back when it counts obvious from the beginning. B U T! He’s also got darkness and hidden depths to explore, and a lot of his persona is affected and masks deeper issues!

Our ghost boy is genuinely A TAD unstable deep down (as in he straight up has several untreated PTSD symptoms and that’s as disastrous as you’d expect) and packing some serious tragic backstory, as you might expect from a kid who died young and carries around a butcher’s knife, and it’s gonna come back to bite him and and all who care about him hard.

Especially when an overly enthusiastic exorcist named Kou Minamoto shows up! Kou is another one who’s very dumb and very good, a wannabe-shonen-protag with a heart of gold and strong sensitive, domestic side. He rounds out our main trio. Also he gets a tragic, emotionally intense relationship with yet another ghost boy that sings to my heart.

(Yes Hanako’s helping Nene to do the thing)

You may be able to tell, this story has INTENSE good-shoujo vibes despite technically being a shonen in a way that I love- it’s story very driven by big emotions, a variety of fucked up and tragically complex relationships, teen hormones running wild, etc, and it’s just delicious.

Nene is the normal-person-audience-surrogate-girl in a way that is more common for a shoujo protag, and the way her emotional connections to everyone, her sweeping romantic fantasies and her interiority are consistently in focus when she’s there- yeah, she’s definitely a plucky shoujo protag, 100%. And I’m all about that!!!

One thing I especially appreciate (though this comes across more strongly in the manga than the anime thanks to the anime rearranging things) is when Nene finds out about Hanako’s Heavy Baggage, she actually takes some time to herself to consider whether she can handle dealing with someone with these intense issues as a kid who’s never encountered stuff like this before- it’s not assumed by the story that the Sweet Girl is Obligated to help the Tragic Boy. I go into more detail about this part in this part here, but it’s that kind of attention to Nene’s needs that makes her role in the story work. Hanako and Nene and everyone’s struggles to get the hang of and properly navigate honest communication and mutual support in relationships are often really great and real-feeling

The story has a lot more things I love packed in to it- a dorky-but-still-deeply-unsettling villain gang who’s screwed up interactions are just as fun as our protagonists, yokai, A CURSED LIBRARY, some great ladies in addition to Nene, meditations on the nature of life, death, themes about fighting nihilism, and so on...I could seriously go on forever. It’s good stuff, and there’s lots of good weird supernaturals to meet.

The story’s also got tons of intrigue! The overarching plot and Hanako’s Mysterious Past is still in the process of unfolding, but it’s been great drama every step of the way! As mentioned before, the story also really relies on funny character dynamics, interaction and development to carry the whole thing and balance the drama.

The anime itself does have some pacing issues bc they crammed a lot into the first season and rearranged some stuff- an entire two chapter arc was skipped and was unlikely to be covered in the anime and some parts are noticeably rushed. I still really like the anime and it’s a solid adaptation. I love how much of the manga’s detailed aesthetic it managed to keep as well as the amazing voice acting and it made a few small but important additions. But there are some notable bumps- of course this just led me to go binge the manga (up to volume 12 is legally available digitally) and BOY DO I NOW LOVE THIS STORY EVEN MORE.

Now obviously, just because it is Exactly My Shit in a lot of ways doesn’t mean Hanako-kun is the much quested for “unproblematic fave”, there’s several caveats you should probs be aware of- its shoujo vibes also mean some classic shoujo ~Problematic tropes~ and a couple shounen ones.

THE LIST:

-Just as a general content overview thing: if this wasn’t clear the show deals heavily with death, body horror and other horror aspects. There’s heavily implied suicide and abuse and so on- as mentioned, the main character is traumatized and shows a lot of symptoms of PTSD, and Nene has to struggle to navigate her relationship with him because of this, as does Kou.

-Hanako himself has the whole ~loveable pervert~ and ~slightly possessive shoujo bad boy~ schtick going as part of his mischevious persona. In the anime so far, he never actually gropes or comments on not-in-his-naughty-mags-people’s breasts or anything of that level thankfully, but he’s very flirty, clingy, will loudly bring up porn, fond of the ol’ *says something that purposefully sounds sexually possessive* HAHAHA U THOUGHT I MEANT SOMETHING DIRTY RIGHT LOL ACTUALLY I DIDN’T.”

(My unnecessary ‘this part is kinda interesting!’ ramble: Nene always lists “sexual harassment” among Hanako’s flaws (she loves listing them), but doesn’t get visibly uncomfortable with his flirtiness or seem to mind it most times, which at least makes the whole thing more tolerable for me.

(since she doesn’t seem to mind that part and its clear he does it bc of actual affection for her, it’s actually p. cute how huggy he is.)

The one time it does cross the line and genuinely upset her, it’s treated seriously, Hanako is genuinely regretful and apologizes. That’s one of my fave moments in the story and the way it’s handled is well done.

This incident that he’s honestly pretty socially clueless as kid who died young and a lot of his bravado is to cover that up and keep people at a distance- this is a trope into itself that can use unpacking but I do at least appreciate that this is a considered character trait that’s part of his whole messed up package rather than something that thrown in there Just to Be a Fanservice Trope. (Especially since the manga confirms he never acted particularly pervy while alive, further cementing this is an affected persona).

-There’s a running gag around Nene’s insecurity over her thick ‘daikon shaped’ ankles and boys treating her badly for it.

One one hand, her body image issues are relatable, on the other, it feels cruel and annoying just how much the show finds ways to bring it up and humiliate her over and over again.

(My unnecessary “this is part is kinda interesting” ramble:The one thing i did realize that despite bringing it up constantly, we at least have no “i’m going to do this to lose weight” or “go on a diet” rhetoric,like this is just part of Nene’s body type and she knows she can’t change it? Which is kinda interesting. And I’ve spotted what might be foreshadowing something plot relevant’s going to happen with her ankles (I DON’T KNOW HOW, BUT GOD I PUT NOTHING PAST THIS STORY) so uh yeah??? either way it’s not good tho)

-”Obsessive and twisted love” is a running theme in this story, and while it’s generally acknowledged as unhealthy, it can be played for comedy in a way that could make viewers/readers uncomfortable. There’s a couple characters who’s entire thing so far is “obsessively in love with this one person” (and the one only focused on in the manga so far is one of the least interesting characters tbh ugh)

-The antagonist of the show is a member of a main character’s family, and the manner he acts towards pretty much everyone, including (and really especially) his family member, verges on seductive. This is presented as deliberately unsettling and treated as a marker of how unstable and scary he is- and though the backstory between them hasn’t been fully delved into, it’s pretty much all but confirmed he abused this family member physically and emotionally.

-The story has like, A LOT of queer subtext and pretty-heavy queer coding for one character especially, but the few times queerness blatantly comes up in the story, it’s played as a joke in the “haha that’d be kinda weird” way (aside from the rando boys who have a crush on Teru, handled pretty neutrally). It’s not as malicious as a lot of animanga can get (ONE MANGA INCIDENT ASIDE), but it’s something to Be Aware Of, and it makes it clear we’re unlikely to see subtext rise to text and makes some moments feel baity.

-And probably more I might have missed! The manga also has Some Shit in addition all the Good Shit that hasn’t been adapted yet, an early arc has Hanako crossing a serious line etc.

BUT despite how messy it is, I think it’s clear I have a lot of love for this story. In fact, I wouldn’t trade away a good chunk of its messiness (DEFINITELY SOME JUST NOT ALL), it kinda works for the characters and works in the “this story really feed my inner teen” way. Some of the trashy parts are exactly My Trash, basically.

So, I knew I’d ramble on for a while when I talked about his show, but if you’ve read this far, thanks, and I hope that means you’re gonna check out and maybe enjoy this story, bc i need more people to join me in Hanako Hell.

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jibaku shonen hanako kun #winter 2020 anime #anime overview #hanako kun #nene yashiro #yashiro nene #kou minamoto #minamoto kou #yugi amane #amane yugi #my reviews

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cricketnationrise · 3 years

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Reading Roundup: June 2021

previous reading roundups

like 80% of these are from my local library | averaged 1 book per day

The Ladies Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite: book 1 in a series. romance. sex on the page. wlw lady scientists! historical! astronomers pretending to be men in order to be published!

Prime Deceptions by Valerie Valdes: book 2 in the Chilling Effect series. should definitely read them in order. rag tag cargo ship crew gets more and more embroiled in an intergalactic conspiracy

Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas by Mark Kurlansky: non-fiction, the history of milk and its by-products. examines how cultural norms around drinking milk has shifted as well as how gender roles in a dairy have shifted. contains delightful sketches of milk-producing animals and funny chapter titles.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston: wow wow wow wow wow wow i love this book so much. i didn’t know i wanted stuck-in-a-time-loop-wlw-riding-the-subway romance but that is for sure what i got. features a scene that directly makes fun of Bella Swan googling information about vampires. so that’s fun.

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite: book 2 in a series. romance. sex on the page. older women protagonists, a beekeeper and a woman who runs a printing press. interesting historical backdrop. don’t need to have read them in order.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: alternating pov YA novel. what happens when you get contacted to do art by your favorite niche podcast and it turns out to be made by the person who lives across the street from you? chaos. chaos happens.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles: towles’ debut novel. set in NYC from Dec 31, 1937 - Jan 1, 1939. rich people problems as experienced by a person who is not rich. 4 parts, each labeled with a season.

Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All by Jonas Jonasson: a hitman, a motel receptionist, and a priest come up with increasingly convoluted ways to make money. they accidentally start a religion. humor.

People I Want to Punch in the Throat: True(ish) Tales of an Overachieving Underachiever by Jen Mann: non-fiction/memoir, taken from and expanded blog posts, follows Jen Mann through meeting her husband and having kids and having to deal with living in the suburbs and all that that entails

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld: reread. book 1 in the Leviathan trilogy. alternate universe WW1. the son of archduke ferdinand of austria is spirited away the night his parents are assassinated in order to protect him. deryn is a girl disguising herself as a boy in order to join the british air force. their paths cross. alternating pov. very cool worldbuilding that is vaguely steampunk-ish.

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch: non-fiction. a look at how the internet has changed language/writing. fascinating read.

Song for a Viking by KJ Charles: short story set in the Think of England series. follow up to Think of England. sex on the page.

Think of England by KJ Charles: historical m/m mystery romance. sex on the page. stuck in a manor house mystery. warnings for blackmail, kidnapping, murder, being left in a cave, violence, period typical anti-semitism/racism/homophobia

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld: reread. book 2 in the Leviathan trilogy. must read in order.

It’s In His Kiss by Julia Quinn: book 7 in the bridgerton series. historical romance. sex on the page. don’t need to read in order, but it helps.

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn: book 8 in the bridgerton series. historical romance. sex on the page. don’t need to read in order, but it helps.

Proper English by KJ Charles: historical f/f mystery romance. prequel to Think of England. sex on the page. stuck in a manor house mystery. warnings for murder, violence, period-typical racism/homophobia

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas: literally read it one sitting. YA m/m romance. trans male protagonist. accidental ghost summoning, dia de los muertos. warnings for youths with shitty home lives, homophobia, transphobia, kidnapping, violence against children/teens, blood

Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn: book 1 in the Rokesby series, a prequel series to the Bridgertons. historical romance (revolutionary war era england). sex on the page. frenemies to lovers.

Sabriel by Garth Nix: book 1 in the Old Kingdom series. fantasy. when her father, the Abhorsen, who’s job it is to make sure the dead stay dead, goes missing in the land of the dead, its up to Sabriel to figure out what happened and how to save the Old Kingdom where magic is alive and kicking.

The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After by Julia Quinn: collected short stories. a second epilogue for each main book in the bridgerton series. also contains violet (the mom’s) story

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin: book 1 in the Inheritance trilogy, fantasy, with her grandfather stepping down as emperor, he names 3 heirs who must duke it out to the death. the gods are watching and in some cases, meddling.

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole: book 2 in the Runaway Royals series. do not need to read in order. f/f romance. sex on the page. sort of an Anastasia retelling.

To Seek and to Find by Tamryn Eradani: ...look its just straight up erotica okay? BDSM. safe/sane/consensual. m/m. book 1 in a trilogy.

Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg: non-fiction. growing up in the depression in NYC as a hearing boy with 2 Deaf parents and an epileptic younger brother. includes how his parents met and fell in love.

Nevertheless, She Persisted: Flash Fiction Project: tor.com published short stories by a variety of authors including Seanan McGuire and Charlie Jane Anders. All start with/feature the phrase: “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

To Have and to Hold by Tamryn Eradani: ...look its just straight up erotica okay? BDSM. safe/sane/consensual. m/m. book 2.

To Love and to Cherish by Tamryn Eradani: ...look its just straight up erotica okay? BDSM. safe/sane/consensual. m/m. book 3.

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan: YA f/f romance. private school. warnings for racism, homophobia, toxic relationship, alcohol use, teen on teen violence (one girl gives another a severe allergic reaction).

Highfire by Eoin Colfer: the last dragon in the world just wants to be left alone in the swamp where he is hiding to watch TV. Squib just wants the police officer to stop hitting on his mom and make some money. the crooked police officer wants to take over the local mob boss’ operations. their lives intersect. warnings for: kidnapping, violence against women/children, murder, blood, removal of toes, dismemberment

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rutilation · 4 years

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In honor of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that has occurred in the last few days for fear of potential incoming Joshua discourse, I have decided to get ahead of the curve and start discoursing about him before the anime even airs!

(--because he’s an interesting character who I didn’t really understand until several years after finishing the game.)

So, I got into the game around 2010, and while I comprehended the broad strokes of Joshua’s character, he seemed more like an inscrutable trickster than a person with relatable emotions, and his reasons for setting the plot into motion were as opaque to me as his reasons for backing off at the last second.

In particular, a big sticking point for me was his assessment of Neku. He considered him “the worst person in Shibuya” and chose him as a proxy because of that. And for years I thought that was the most ludicrous aspect of the game. If the very worst person you can find in your bustling metropolis is a grumpy teenager who only has the potential to commit murder when under duress, then how could you possibly think that it’s beyond salvation, you utterly incoherent moron! But, several years afterwards, I realized why he saw Shibuya as unsalvageable, and why he held Neku in such contempt, and the disparate elements of the character started to click into place for me.

For as much as Joshua likes to put on airs, his motivations aren’t rational in the slightest. When Joshua says that Shibuya has grown shallow and static, he’s really talking about himself, and is projecting all the things he hates about himself onto the surrounding environment. He singles out Neku not because this run-of-the-mill moody teen is objectively the worst person in Shibuya, but because he sees Neku as a younger, more naive version of himself, and in a classic example of the narcissistic element of self-hatred, being like him is the most irredeemable sin Joshua can conceive of.

Then, I started thinking about what he actually intended to accomplish with his whole plan, and specifically, the duel at the end. I don’t think Joshua had any intention of presiding over a remade Shibuya. I think he was banking on Neku killing him and taking his place, and all that stuff about hijacking Shibuya from the composer during week two was for the sole purpose of planting that idea in Neku’s head. In life, Joshua was friendless, miserable, and myopic. He had hoped that by entering the world of the reapers’ game, he might find a sense of fulfillment. But in the end, this mere change of scenery didn’t do anything to address his underlying malaise, and life felt just as empty as it did before. Thus, he sets his plan in motion, intending to pass on his awful torch to a fellow awful person.

What he didn’t count on was Neku growing as a person and gaining hope instead of losing it. Joshua wanted to end his own world, but the outcome of all his scheming was that it opened up instead. Instead of validating his grand act of self-destruction as planned, Neku refutes Joshua's worldview in a way he can't ignore or dismiss.

When I first saw the secret ending, my reaction was something along the lines of: “Aww, I guess he’s not totally heartless after all.” But looking back on it, I can’t really see it as anything other than tragic. Joshua can’t lie to himself anymore, can’t continue to protect himself with a shield of apathy and cynicism, but because of the permanence of his past choices, he can’t actually free himself from this isolated and claustrophobic world he’s created either, and that prison is made all the more painful now that he realizes how much he’s missing out on. All he can do in the secret ending is watch forlornly as that younger version of himself grows up, makes connections, and moves on, while he’s still stuck at a dead-end.

(There’s a moment during the credits of KH:3D in which Joshua is perched above the rest of the cast on a giant letter, parodying his fondness for sitting on buildings. The others soon take notice of him, and hassle him into coming down and joining them. When I noticed it, it warmed my heart a bit, and made me hopeful about the trajectory of his character, regardless of whether or not a sequel would actually materialize.)

But all that being said, what I just wrote isn’t what the fine folk in the TWEWY fandom mean when they refer to Joshua discourse. As far as I can tell, the true discursive quandary is thus: “Is Joshua, in fact, Komaeda?” Well I have bad news for you guys because, in my humble opinion, he kind of is?

Now, I realize that knowing enough to write several paragraphs about such a cursed character can be seen as me telling on myself, but in my defense, your honor, I didn’t get into danganronpa until a few years after its popularity peaked. Whatever discourse wars were waged over Komaeda and his zipper-shoes back in 2013, I was not a part of them. With that out of the way...

You know those posts that get passed around here every so often about how the concept of gifted children sucks? How it puts too much pressure on them? How it encourages them to see themselves as instrumentally rather than inherently valuable? How it leaves them anxious, depressed, and bereft of ways to cope? Well, that’s the underlying allegory of SDR2, and underneath all the wacky shenanigans that comprise your average danganronpa title, that’s what the cast is contending with. This is true of it’s protagonist, and especially true of his rival.

in much the same way that Joshua is the worst parts of Neku exaggerated and taken to their logical conclusion, Komaeda plays precisely that role for Hinata. Both characters serve as a cautionary tale for the respective toxic mindsets that these games are denouncing.

Now that I think about it, Komaeda almost seems like an evolution of the concept, because he intuits from a fairly early point in the story that the protagonist’s very essence is a refutation of his worldview. He insists on viewing Hinata as being far above him, but in actuality he realizes Hinata is in a similar situation--see his comment in one of the FTEs that Hinata feels like a miserable outsider like himself. And if someone even a little bit like him is capable of experiencing happiness and connecting with others, what then? The gap between how Komaeda wants to feel and how he actually feels is a subtle but reoccurring thread throughout the story. This, I think, is why he seems to regard Hinata with both attraction and revulsion, treating him as simultaneously an avatar of his repressed will (hence why he attempts to bolster him in the class trials,) and an object of scorn (hence the smattering of passive aggressive jabs before chapter four, and the outright antagonism from that point forward.) While Joshua fools himself until the the end of the game, Komaeda, master of doublethink that he is, seems at times self-aware of the fact that he is a foil in the literary sense, and that awareness partly informs his neurosis. His take on the character type feels a little more post-modern, I suppose?

Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if Joshua were an inspiration for Komaeda’s character and role in the story. But even then, I suspect that the question is less, “Is Joshua, in fact, the same sort of character as Komaeda?” and more “Is Joshua, in fact, going to become a contemptible meme like Komeada?” To which I say, probably not. *knock on wood*

For one thing, while TWEWY will certainly experience an uptick in popularity once the anime starts airing, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will capture the nerd zeitgeist enough to turn one of its characters into a meme that transcends the story from whence it came. Furthermore, there’s more to being a tumblr sexy meme man than merely belonging to an archetype. Komaeda’s spiritual successor in DRV3 is kind of popular, but isn’t an inter-fandom joke in the same way he is, and neither are Kaworu from Eva or Ryo from Devilman, for that matter, and those are the grandfathers of the archetype in question. In addition, the other infamous tumblr sexymen that come to mind, Sans and Onceler, aren’t a part of the white-haired-anime-rival-boy archetype, and Sans isn’t even a conventionally attractive twink. I posit that the alchemy determining which characters and media tumblr loses its shit over is more varied and complicated than it appears at first glance. (Not that I actually want to devote much brainpower to that particular field of study, lol.)

Uhhhhh... in conclusion, thank you for reading my words and also the DR3 anime is trash.

#the world ends with you #twewy

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

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Survey #297

“crushed, damned, and broken; lost, sick, and left unspoken.”

When was the last time you did clay work/pottery? Not since high school when I made an anatomically correct heart. Do you like art, hate it or just not mind it? I adore it. Is crime a big problem in your area? Oh yes. What's the scariest story/urban legend/creepypasta etc you heard? Maaaan, as a cryptic fanatic, that's hard. Maybe the Rake. What personality trait does nearly everyone in your family seem to have? We're some resilient motherfuckers. What is your favorite soda? Well, it's technically strawberry Sunkist, but I do NOT let myself have it because I will fucking chug it and binge on them if available to me. So, I just consider Mountain Dew Voltage my fave. When you're on the beach, do you throw beached sea creatures back? I've never even seen a beached animal. I would, though. Have you ever thrown food at someone? Yeah, small food fights as a kid or joking with a friend. Have you ever been to a bonfire? Yeah. Do you like orangutans? I love them; such fascinating, enchanting animals that act more human than people half the time. When you see a bug flipped on his back, what do you do? It depends on what it is, but I usually try to help it. Is cereal good? Yeah, I love cereal. Do you like spaghetti? Love it. It was my favorite food as a kid. Is there any kind of weapon in your bedroom? No. Do you like snow globes? I love 'em! Be honest, did Fifty Shades of Grey arouse you in any way? I didn't read it and never will. What does your sibling(s) call you? "Britt" or "(little/big) sister." Do you have any close friends that are the opposite sex that your significant other dislikes? N/A Do you honestly believe everything happens for a reason? Why or why not? Nope, because I want you to explain to me why a child dies of cancer. Why the 11-year-old was raped and forced to bear the child. Why a partner is beaten to death by their s/o, etc. etc. Things just... happen. Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not? No, mostly; I DO kinda wonder about it, I just find it unlikely. It would be kinda poetic, though: being given the chance to experience so many unique things. But, I kinda want a conclusion to my mortal life. The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner? I read the first HG and loved it; I started the latter novel while I was in the psych hospital for a while, but I never finished it or got that far in. It did sound pretty good, though. Has anyone you’ve known claimed to be psychic? Well, they believe(d) in tarot readings; does that count? Idk. Did/do you believe them? I wouldn't. Is anything annoying you right now? "Annoyed" is a fucking understatement when it comes to what transpired at the capitol a few days back. Have you ever been ice-skating? No. Does the sound of rain at night help you sleep? It can, depending on how heavy it is. Have you ever seen an albino person, in person? Albino, no, but I knew a guy and his sister in high school who had vitiligo. Have you ever worn a pair of scrubs? Yeah, at the ER and hospital. Have you ever walked into a massive cobweb? I don't believe so. What would you say is your strongest felt emotion right now? Rage. I'm not over "the event." I'm just tired of humanity. Are you talking to anyone at the moment? No. Do you have trust issues? Oh yes. Have you ever found an arrow head? No. Who is with you? My mom's home. What can you not stop thinking about? *points upwards* Then there's Jason because PTSD, that's very normal. Do you forgive easily? I forgive very easily, honestly. In what part of your life so far, have you learned the most about yourself? 2017, when recovery began. I think... or maybe 2018, idk. I've truly come to discover myself quite a lot the past few years. Have you ever been in a fist fight? No. Are your ears pierced? Yeah: my earlobes twice, and then my right tragus has a stud. I want to get my others back... I had to take them all out in the psych hospital, and a lot of my piercings closed up. The only one I don't wanna re-do is my anti-tragus, because mine was *always* inflammed and aggravated. What did you last say out loud? "Okay" to Mom. What are you waiting on? Right now, an opportunity to go to the parlor I'm getting my tat tidied up at to get a price range on it. They just need to be open while we're out of the house. Do you tell people when they get on your nerves? Not really. Are your feelings hurt easily? Yep. What's the most expensive piece of clothing you have? Did you buy it yourself? I dunno... I very rarely get new clothes, nevermind expensive ones. Who is your closest platonic friend of the opposite sex? His nickname is Girt. He's been my best male friend since high school; we even hang out sometimes, but it's been a long while. How do you think your first relationship shaped who you are as a partner now? As a partner, it taught me to not fall head over heels and love more realistically and in a healthy fashion. I don't put my faith solely into them, but myself, too. I also accept "forever" is not always true just because they promise it. Who is your favorite protagonist of the same sex? Oh god, this is hard. I suppose maybe Tyrande Whisperwind from WoW. I love her dedication to her people and that her story has become more interesting in her finally "breaking." I could list so, so many "faves," tbh. Were you popular in high school? What was your reputation like? No; I was just the average teen. Have you always known your sexual orientation or did something happen to make you realize it? Somethings happened. There were a lot of hints building up before I even began to consider the possibility, but a daydream solidified it as fact. What was the hardest part of your last break up? Realizing I still wasn't "ready" or "fit" for a successful relationship. What brought you out of the hardest period in your life? As strange as it sounds, my suicide attempt put it into action. I was obviously hospitalized for a while, and then I was brought into a month-long partial hospitalization program that has a fucking genius psychiatrist, and I also had daily therapy as long as school days during the week. It was the intense help I needed. What's your favorite kind of smiley face? (: Does anybody know your deepest darkest secret? My old therapist and maybe my mom; I can't remember if I told her. Did you ever watch Rugrats? (the babies) I LOVED that show! I even had two of the video games. What about Hey Arnold? Ugh, I hated it, but I think my little sister did, or we just watched it if we couldn't find anything else. Do you like pep rallies? NO. NO. NO. My teachers always understood that they really stoked my anxiety and allowed me to opt out of going. I'd just stay in the classroom and read or something. Have you ever had pneumonia? No. What do you feel about surgeries? Do they worry you? I fear anesthesia awareness, but not to a debilitating degree or anything that makes me panic beforehand or anything like that. Do you play Minecraft? if so, feelings about servers? Never have, and not interested. Do you read creepypastas? Nah. Do you think vlogging in public is scary? It seems awkward as FUCK to me. Even alone. Have you been to an escape room? Was it a success? No. What social class would you say you're in? I think we're actually near the poverty line (or were, idk anymore, Mom slipped it before), so definitely lower. Have you ever recorded a cover of a song? No. How do you feel about guns? They scare me. What's the most traumatizing event that ever happened to you? A very abrupt and poorly-executed breakup while being madly in love to the point of obsession with the person. Are you faint to the sight of blood? No. Do you like spicy food? Yes. Do you have good dreams or nightmares more? Well, considering I was woken up by myself shrieking my lungs out this morning, guess. It seemed for a little bit that my nightmares were chilling out, but I guess not. When was the last time someone insulted you? What was the insult? Does my mother telling me I'm saying too many "f-bombs" count? I dunno otherwise. What’s your second favorite color? Maroon. Do you ever wish you lived in a different country? Hey Canada, mind adopting me? Who’s the last person you “pounded” fists with? Ha, I think my nephew. Have you ever been involved in an affair? No. Wait, maybe? Does the Joel thing count? We never even physically met each other, we were just being idiot kids flirting over text messages. You be the judge, ig. How many times a week do you speak to your boss? I don’t have a job. What do you want for your birthday? Just donate to my tattoo fund lmao. Having to get my laptop fixed fucked up my plans yet again... Have you ever been to a masquerade? No. Is there anybody you think is hot over the age of 40? A handful, yeah. Who in your phone has a heart after their name? Just Sara does. Anything you’re avoiding? Always. After breaking up, what’s the worst? Letting go if you're the one who still has feelings. Does your sibling have a significant other? I don't know if my brother does, or the half-sister I've never met. Another sister is engaged, and two are married. Nicole is single, though. She's smart as hell about who she dates; she's probably pickier than me. Do you use Skype? Just to talk with Sara. Are you a fan of acrylic nails? I wouldn't wear them, but they look fine on some people. Except when they're square shaped. Name one happy song that describes you better than any other. "Get Up" by Mother Mother comes to me first. Name one sad/mellow song that describes you better than any other. Haha I connect with a lot of sad songs and would honestly rather not dig through 'em right now. What is your most used pick up line? None, they're all awful. Do you like the taste of alcohol? Noooooo no no. The only alcoholic drinks I like are very weak and sweet. What kinds of food make you sick? So this probably sounds so stupid, but "fancy" foods, like stuff with a lot of ingredients my body isn't used to, I guess. My stomach is very finicky with foods, so it's easy to make this list.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''creatures x: to the grave'' by motionless in white

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steve0discusses · 4 years

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Yugioh S4 Ep10 pt2: Yugi’s Never Ceasing Commute Continues

Last we left off, it was time to eat. Thank you. Thank you, Yugioh. You get me.

Not one of their better spreads, TBH.

No cheese wheels, too. They are truly living in hard times.

(read more under the cut)

Rex and Weevil decided to look for rare cards in the rubble of Arthur Hawkin’s house.

I don’t know why they bothered with this, everything was very clearly exploded and on fire, but youknow, these two just seem to be very hellbent on being bad at life. Just two jokes that are here just to be jokes, wearing these duel disks that they’re not going to use until it’s finally time for them to betray us. Checkov’s jokes.

And I hate to say this but they really are this season’s Bakura.

I know I just said that.

But this show really likes having at least one character that might turn at any moment and stab our protagonist in the back. They like to have at least one at all times there, hovering over Yugi’s oblivious shoulders, with that figurative knife (or literal, in the case of that time when Bakura stabbed himself without nearly any provocation).

In the past, when Bakura was out to lunch, we would have betraying friends like Kaiba, who would go solo in the middle of his own card game and end up throwing everyone in danger, and also Tristan who got full on possessed by the Big 5 and tried to murder everyone, but I guess after 4 seasons they were like “Youknow...I think Kaiba got over it.” and like...you can’t have Rebecca stab us in the back so lets bring Rex and Weevil.

At least their showtime is minimal, because unlike Bakura, who is pretty likeable even when he’s being an asshole, Rex and Weevil never turn off the asshole and are mostly just visual gags stumbling over eachother. Bakura was quite clever and had a bit of depth and mystery, while I don’t think Rex and Weevil are smart enough to even know how to spell mystery.

And if Rex and Weevil end up being good guys and the saviors of the whole show then my sincere apologies, but they are still kind of grating.

Now Rebecca gets a duel monster’s card that has a death threat on it, which is probably the normal way to sign your duel monsters cards in this universe. I imagine every card in Yugi’s deck has a couple death threats on each of them by now. Probably makes them more lucky.

Ya so...

I can forgive this. The people who made this looked at a map of California, forgot that California is roughly the same size as Japan, and were like “I mean, there’s like 50 states, it can’t be that big.”

But here’s the thing about Death Valley. I am a Californian, but I have never been there. This is why.

Death Valley is ASS to get to. Barely anyone lives there. Nothing goes there. You can’t just take a train, you have to drive there by going south past it and then turning around. It’s real round about and just in the middle of nowhere. May as well get there by flying into Las Vegas, and if you are flying into Las Vegas, chances are slim that you will leave that Vacation Town USA to vacation in a literal desert.

Clearly they saw the name “Death Valley” and got super excited but y’all...there’s a reason why we call it that, and everyone who knows about geography or is a Californian is kind of like “um...is Yugi...going to Death Valley???? That city slicker?”

Cuz this is not a normal desert. Normally, a human can survive 3 days without water, in Death Valley you apparently can only survive for 14 hours. It is the lowest point in the US and also the hottest point in the US and the place where the highest temperature was ever recorded on the Earth. And while that heat is only for 5 months of the year...it’s not winter in the show, is it? It’s fairly warm. San Fransisco wasn’t even foggy?

Like even the Death Valley website is like “please don’t leave the main roads and hike during the hot months” because y’all, this park is damn serious. Like this is one of the only National Parks that has not just one, but multiple ghost towns in it.

Don’t get me wrong, Death Valley’s very pretty and very fun I’ve heard, and it has like a very fancy dayspa in it, and if you like geography and like to rough it, then you will absolutely love how freakin weird Death Valley is. So, if you’re safe and know how to pack your gear, you’ll have no problem, but...Y’all, Yugi Muto, who barely survived Pegasus’ island (and only because Mai fed him) is going to just casually go into Death Valley.

In that outfit.

Then, in some barn somewhere (I have NO IDEA where this exchange takes place) Rafael is grilling Arthur only to realize that this is a very pointless conversation.

And in case you forgot Darts exist, he’s still out there, murdering people off for kicks. we’ll just add 20 more to the death count, the internet told me that’s the average amount of people on a fish boat of average size (although sometimes this boat seemed like the size of a shipping container barge but youknow...)

And in case you missed it, I have been doing the death counter wrong so I was 2 people behind--it’s correct now. With the rate this show goes I feel like we might see death 666 eventually. But, yes we did pass 269 so we’ll have to wait another 100, I guess, because it went to some rando on this boat. Nice.

(The highest surface temperature of Death Valley ((not the air, but the ground)) ever recorded, was 201° F.)

(That’s 94° C for those in the back.)

I mean Yugi is part Pharaoh so I guess he just has a strong attraction to really terrible deserts. He’s also half a dead guy so maybe he also just has a strong attraction to being dead.

But I dunno, maybe this is the months of the year where Death Valley is manageable? Maybe? Possibly? We’ll just assume that it is.

Now you can go horseback riding in Death Valley, as you can in any National Park, but it isn’t real normal to ride your horse all the way from San Fransisco. And like you can’t even let your dog off a leash in Death Valley. This is such a bad park for pets!

Also, I found out some fun facts about horse travel, for anyone interested in writing fantasy and wants to know the average speed of a horse.

So a horse can go about 100 miles in a day, but only for one day. If you do 250 miles, the time has to be more spread out since you must recharge your horse. According to some horse-specialist on the internet who does horse marathons from coast to coast, if you have to do 500 miles, then you average about 24 miles a day, accounting for horse-recovery time and assuming it’s a horse that wasn’t bred for super long distances. (this is about a 500 mi horse ride, ps)

The pony express of old, the iconic Wells Fargo, would actually have horse stations along the prairie, where you would trade in your tired horse for a new horse, so that way you would never have to stop going 100 miles in a day. Since Yugi never changed his horse, this ride would have been absolutely ridiculous, and Copernicus the horse, would have stopped somewhere in Gilroy.

But this is a kid’s show so wtv, we’re gonna ignore that.

(reminder that Yugi decided not to unhitch the perfectly serviceable truck and drive away with air conditioning.)

And Yugi really did make Rebecca promise not to tell these much older teens that he took off (something about how he doesn’t want to put more people in danger yada yada, normal Yugi stuff), but the show kind of blames this on Rebecca...but like...she’s 12. This one is on Yugi.

But, if Rebecca were older, maybe she would have done the same thing. Rebecca seems like maybe the type that realizes that when you like an idiot boy, you gotta let them do idiot things, and make idiot mistakes. You can’t just control what your friends do all the time, unlike this crew, which is controlling because that is the only way they keep eachother alive.

So Joey decides to ignore both of the cars right next to him, and just book it to save his stupid ass friend. On foot. To Death Valley. From what the show insisted was just outside San Fransisco.

And I guess that Rafael decided to just let Hawkins go?

Probably because Yugi got on a horse and Rafael was like “of course I know Yugi is chasing me on horseback off the main roads. Of course I know that.” and then he just...let Hawkins walk all the way back...

Hawkins should be dead, but not yet.

So lets check out Death Valley.

So like...again I just think they probably boarded everything and had a rough idea of “America has a bunch of natural canyons, right?” and didn’t realize that the Grand Canyon was soooo far from California.

There are actually canyons in Death Valley but like...I dunno if the art matches that so much? They aren’t nearly as massive as the canyon situation farther East.

Again this was their art choice that they made and it’s...a choice. And they committed to it.

And this bike thing happened?

This tandem bicycle for children lost among the wreckage of Rebecca Hawkin’s home is like a whole “baby shoes, never worn” short story in itself. Rebecca has nooo siblings or parents, right? She has a really old grandpa who is like 80 and doesn’t bike? Just uh...bringing that up...was this tandem bike for her to hang out with Yugi? Does Rebecca even have friends her own age? She already graduated college.

So much inferred by the bike that I know is just here because it’s a funny joke to see Rex and Weevil on a stupid tandem bike.

So I’ve heard about the bike/car/horse paradox before in regards to this season, (it’s one of the few things I knew about this season before going in) so I’m happy to see I’ve recapped enough Yugioh to see it play out.

The paradox being, if Yugi is on horseback, and Rex and Weevil are on a bike, and the rest are in a car, who arrives first?

Apparently the show itself isn’t even sure because Rex and Weevil can keep up with a horse???

Anyway, the correct answer to the paradox is that everyone not in a car is dead for not bringing any water.

Everyone except for Raphael, who probably put a camel pack into each of his shoulder pads.

OH NOW IT’S AN ANIME.

I don’t get why this is happening. But it’s a thing now. Rafael has either literal or metaphoric wings. Bear in mind I thought Pharaoh was Metaphoric for like 14 episodes. These Icarus wings might just be real. Rafael might have been a card this entire time, and I wouldn’t even blink.

Anyway, if this is your first post of mine you’ve seen of this, my apologies, we’re in S4 and this is very confusing. You can read from S1 ep 1 in chrono order by clicking this very handy link here!

#yugioh #ygo #Episode Recap #photo recap #yugi muto #joey wheeler #rebecca hawkins #raphael #rex raptor #weevil underwood #duke devlin #tea gardner #anime food #s4 #ep 10 #fully prepared for Rafael to be a card

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fayevalcntine · 4 years

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10 comfort movies

I was tagged by @missismess to list my top 10 comfort movies (idk how the wildcard works but eh). I'll be honest, I don't think my mind can really even remember ten movies that I rewatch to count as 'comfort', so I'll just list the number of movies that I can remember that I used to love a lot and would rewatch frequently.

Peter Pan (1953)

This was a definite favorite of mine when I was in middle school. I would later become obsessed with the Peter Pan lore/story, and the 2007 live-action one is another favorite that I rewatched scenes endlessly of. I still have very fond memories of both versions, and while I haven't gotten the chance to rewatch Hook, I still loved how unusual it was. I know that that one is pretty ridiculed for its casting and story, but idc. It's the exact sort of cheesy ridiculous 80s adventure movie that I am into.

Robin Hood (1973)

Another favorite!! There's so many different versions/interpretations of the Robin Hood story, and I have watched a good amount of them (the Kevin Costner one is another favorite of mine that I like), but Disney's animated one is an incredibly lighthearted version that would always make me laugh. The fact that the characters are animals of course helps, and I fell in love with this version's Robin and Marian

The Mummy (1999)

This movie has its own set of flaws, I can easily admit that, despite most of the people on this website trying to make it seem unproblematic. But I still love it for its humor and adventurous themes. I rewatched it endlessly when I was a teen. Also, Oded Fehr. I should try and look up any non-American productions that he's done, since it's fair to assume many (if not all) of his American ones are likely very limited (and stereotypically cast) roles :/

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Kind of a weird pick, I know, since it's definitely the more "darker" one of the trilogy, but it still leaves us with a glimmer of hope at the end. Without a doubt my favorite one of the OT, even though Return of The Jedi features my favorite development for Luke, as well as many other revelations that I will defend when it comes to ROTJ.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

I'll be honest with you, Tim Burton's newer productions just feel like they lack the heart and originality that many of his older projects had. It also doesn't help that he's soured over for me after he basically admitted that he can't seem to imagine a more diverse cast in his stories. But Nightmare Before Christmas is one that I still have fond memories of, and is an animated movie that is definitely more original than others. The ending song with Sally and Jack was the pinnacle of romance for me, lol.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

A horror movie isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think of "comfort", but there's something so funny and a little bit comforting about this movie, despite its sad ending, for me. It helps that the protagonist David is overall an average guy who's stuck in a really terrible situation, and the way the movie portrays his grief and conflict over his current state just gives the story a heartfelt feeling for me, which is something that horror movies mostly lack. Also, the makeup effects are incredible for an 80s flick, and many newer werewolf flicks that use CGI just lack the complete realness that practical effects have in this movie.

Thirst (2009)

Idek what I'm doing here lol, but this is a more recent watch that I keep coming back to. It's another horror movie, but one that honestly makes me laugh in a lot of scenes. The vampire lore is something that I'm always interested in, and the fact that this movie is basically an adaptation of Therese Raquin but with vampires makes it even more fun. I know why the main protagonist is the priest, though I personally would've loved to see a version of this story from Tae-ju's perspective.

Three Colors: Red (1994)

Another more recent watch that I just love. It's not really a "comfort" movie, but the main dynamic between Valentine and The Judge is so compelling, and Valentine herself is such a more hopeful person. Her character just makes the film for me.

That's about all that I can think of. If anyone wants to do this, I definitely ask that you do.

#text post #list

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ouchmaster6000 · 5 years

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RE that zim/anpanman post - while Anpanman doesn't get as dark in tone, Baikinman regularly tries to kill people and has done things like tear pages out of an anthropomorphic book and make food-based characters spoil and rot. Not as gruesome as doing it to "real people" characters but that's not the point really; the idea behind it is still there, so Japanese kids are just very accustomed to an alien being that sadistic within the context of their series

First of all, I should point out I agree that Japanese kids are probably used to seeing more intense stuff on TV than american ones. Alot of shows like Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Digimon and even Pokemon occasionally are known for having stuff edited out of the english dub. A pretty decent number of shonen series just flat out get marketed to an older audience in the states (stuff for kids in japan being aimed at middle schoolers here, stuff for teens being aimed at adults etc.)

Hell, I’m fairly certain Dragon Ball Z and Tenchi Muyo probably would have been marketed to adults in the US if it came out today too (Former for the violence, latter for the sexual stuff) and only got away with as much they did because they were on cable, and the idea that kids anime could appeal to adults simply hadn’t occurred to most western producers at that point.

I just…. Dont really think Anpanman is a good example of this? I also dont agree with the original poster’s Zim comparison. Granted, I suppose I probably should watch the show, but from everything I have seen of it, such as discussions on Bogleech’s website, it doesn’t seem that much edgier than standard kids show? Definitely a bit weirder and more violent than most preschool shows in the states, but overall, I doesn’t sound like Baikinman is much worse the your average kids cartoon villain.

I mean for starters, its pretty standard in kids media for killing and mutilating for non-human characters to be allowed, especially if said characters don’t have blood or flesh.

The obvious example is robots. Star Wars, Transformers, Doctor Who, Superman, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, Xiaolin Showdown, Age of Ultron, - There are way too many shows, comics and movies to list that eithor aimed at kids or families, that have robots and cyborgs being torn apart in ways that would be pretty graphic if it happened to humans or animals.

Digimon is a related example - The only reason the franchise is allowed to have as much death as it does is because 99% of the fatalities happen to digital lifeforms that dissolve into pixels upon death.

Hell one of my favorite movies as a child was the original Toy Story, and all the scenes where Sid was mutilating and blowing up his toys would have gotten a hard R rating if he was doing it to people. I’ve heard a lot of people compare Sid to Dr. Frankenstein, but with toys, but at least Dr. Frankenstein used parts that were already dead (as opposed to tearing/cutting apart still living people) and put them together in a shape roughly resembling a human. Really, Sid’s toys are less Frankenstein and more human centipede.

I also remember Fosters Home for Imaginary friends having a similar reoccuring theme of “food friends” meeting a worse fate than Anpanman. This included half eaten, traumatized anthropomorphic food dreamed up by kids in stuck in fat camp, or a talking pizza dreamed up by the bully character and eaten and killed just seconds after being “born”

So, although obviously dark comedy, Baikinman doing those things isn’t really anything new for childrens media. Neither, is trying to kill someone, since a lot of cartoon villains have made serious attempts to kill people, they just never succeed.

But Zim successfully mutilating and removing the organs and body parts of human children is definitely not normal for a kids show.

Another issue I took with Revretch’s post was that she wasn’t just talking about Zim the character, she seemed to me to be claiming that “Invader Zim” the TV series wouldn’t be seen as edgy just because the main character is similar to Baikenman… but thats not really how it works? You can’t necessarily tell the tone of a show, just from the nature of its protagnist.

Like, by that logic, Courage the Cowardly Dog should be one of the most light hearted and kid friendly shows out there, but in actuality the world he inhabits is much, much darker, scarier and more surreal than Courage himself is.

Its true that, though the writers/network let Zim do much worse stuff on screen, there are plenty of other childrens cartoon characters whose personality is pretty similar to Zim, or whom are a lot creepier and more threatening. Mojo Jojo and HIM from the powerpuff girls are good examples of both of these, respectively.

In fact, Powerpuff Girls, Xiaolin Showdown, Codename: Kids Next Door, Danny Phantom and plenty of other childrens cartoons all have both villains that are similar to Zim, and villains that are considerably more evil, creepy or serious than Zim ever was, but the tone of these shows, overall, is a relatively more optimistic one, where the main protagonists have more or less happy lives and good always triumphs over evil in the end.

Hell, even Gravity Falls, with its use of creepy horror imagery, occasional forays into adult humor, and having one of the most infamous big bads in childrens animation (and easily my favorite from the last 10 years) remains a fairly optimistic show at its core, about family and summer adventures.

This is not the case with Invader Zim, which is a show where humans as a species are portrayed as so comically stupid and mean spirited that, even if Zim somehow successfully killed or enslaved them all, it probably wouldn’t come across as a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

A show where the Irkens are depicted both commiting genocide, and electrocuting a disobedient slave on screen, and whose society is such a dystopia they are forced to udergo intense military training from birth and generally assigned roles for life based on genetics.

A show where the elementary skool is portrayed as a collection of all the absolute worst aspects of public school, both in terms of how its run, and how the kids treat each other, exaggerated to an absurd degree.

A show where a reoccurring joke character is a homeless man, who got taken advantage by a fast food chain, paid in free pizza and a room in the back of a resturant, became morbidly obese (Yes, this is Bloaty’s canon origin story) and was last seen in the original show sobbing uncontrollably because he hates his life.

Also, although this was obviously changed significantly in the comics and the Enter the Florpus special, in regards to what was portrayed in the original show, its really not difficult to make the argument Dib’s own dad and sister don’t give a shit whether or not he lives or dies.

Of course, this was all done for very dark laughs, as well as to create a setting that was just the right balance of humor and nihilism that the viewer could choose to either root for, laugh at or sympathize with either Zim or Dib without really worrying about the actual moral implications of either sides goals.

I’m not saying Zim is the edgiest show out there, comedic or otherwise. With stuff like Warhammer, Berserk, Venture Bros, Metalocalypse and all manner of gritty 90s anihero comics, Zims pretty light hearted and goofy in comparison.

But for childrens animation? Aside from some of the 90’s “grossout” cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Cow & Chicken (which varied a lot in quality, imo) I can’t really think of any others that come close (Maaaaybe Billy & Mandy, but I think its too tonally inconsistant, with a lot of episodes being pretty standard cartoon slapstick.)

Wow, I sure did type a lot. Sorry about that. But Invader Zim is one of my all time favorite shows, and fictional villains one of my favorite topics, so I feel like I have a lot to say about them.

#invader zim #anpanman #baikenman #cartoons #anime #children's media #villains #cartoon villains #iz

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