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aesthetic-bastard · 1 year

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Media Interaction 2022

Part 7: July

Dick Fight Island - I'm not too big into Yaoi, and even if there is fan-made content of my favorite gay pairings, I don't actively seek it out. I'm sure we have all taken a trip to our local Barnes & Nobles and walked passed that one book in the manga section proudly displayed out in the open that immediately caught our attention with its bright yellow bold letters spelling out "Dick Fight Island"

Yes, that is the tile of this manga that I have read through with my own eyes. This is one of the only times I have read anything classified as erotica because this manga is bizarrely explicit. Like the title suggests, every 4 years 8 men from 8 different islands compete in a battle royal suited in scantly clad armor and fight against each other using their armored genitals as blunt objects. Whichever contestant comes out on top is crowned the new king of all the islands but whoever cums first during each match loses. Dick Fight Island is a very short read considering it's only 2 volumes and I greatly enjoyed it. I think it's empowering that something so bizarre and erotic is written and illustrated by a woman. I liked that this manga didn't only just have a cast of conventionally attractive homosexual men each catered to a specific arc type but there were also lesbian characters present in the story. I loved that this manga hit all bases when creating a story involving LGBT characters and wasn't just another erotic manga tailored specifically to fujoshi's.

Golden Kamuy (anime) - After reading through the manga I immediately jumped into watching the anime adaptation of Golden Kamuy and wanted to quickly catch up since I knew my favorite character would be introduced in season 4 coming up in October. I didn't have extremely high expectations for the anime and I could certainly say it's not the greatest adaptation but it's not the worst either. I would strongly suggest reading Golden Kamuy over watching it because this adaptation just can't do the justice this manga deserves, I can not even begin to understand the existence of Golden Kamuy anime onlys. There are probably a few scenes I enjoyed seeing animated but that was about it. The pacing of the first season is very inadequate and some of the chapters are either not adapted at all or they have their own separate OVA which makes it difficult for me to recall when certain events happened in the manga. Things don't start to pick up in the anime until season 3 which I find unfortunate because that's at least 24 episodes that you have to invest in before it gets better. At that point, I would just strongly advise reading the manga because I greatly enjoyed the early chapters in Golden Kamuy when I began to start reading it vigorously every day.

Panty and Stocking - When I heard that Panty and Stocking would be receiving its long-awaited second season I felt a deep sense of dread fill my body, that being said I took it upon myself to sit down and actually make my way through this anime from start to finish. I don't think I have ever sat through anything that gave me such intense secondhand embarrassment. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to force myself to watch this anime but I don't believe in brushing things off without fully examining them at least once. After watching my way through PSG, I strongly feel like I am the only person who has watched the source material. I refuse to believe the cult following for this anime is comprised of individuals that actually watched it. It makes my heart sink so deeply when a lot of animated media is heavily praised solely for its art and animation but is actually extremely lacking in other aspects such as writing, and character development or is just straight-up questionable. I feel like PSG gets a free pass for its awful offensive sexual humor because "the art style is cool" and I feel that's all people talk about when discussing their infatuation with this anime. I will admit I do like the art style of PSG but I feel like the "PSG art style" is more diverse than people make it out to be because there are actually really cool-looking designs and characters outside of the main 2 protagonists. I think another show that easily suffers this same problem is the Power Puff Girls where there is an obvious cast of diverse character designs but the perception of the "PPG art style" outside of the 3 main protagonists is non-existent. If I was to give some credit to PSG where it's due is that there is slight character development, yay! I am not a fan of Panty at all and her character makes me very uncomfortable but I did find some enjoyment in watching her get character development during the last arc of the first season. Even though both Panty and Stocking are dumb and rotten as hell it's clear Stocking is slightly more mature and seeing each of the sisters go through a brief period where they split up leaving Panty to do a lot of self-reflection, it's actually good? I would like to also add that PSG has a very good English dub and is probably one of the top English dubs I have heard when watching anime without subtitles. I don't think I will continue PSG if the second season ever comes out and I am certainly not ready for the culture war that will spawn from the second half of this anime when it finally drops but I was willing to give PSG a try since it is wildly popular.

Catherine Full Body - I think after playing a few games developed by Atlus I wanted to give Catherine Full Body a try. Unlike the previous games I have played by Atlus, Cathrine is a puzzle game and not an RPG. Catherine also includes a lot of elements similar to dating sims but I think I knew right away this game was more profound than that. At first, I deeply regretted buying this game at 50% off on the Nintendo Switch e-shop. I could not believe the horrible choices the protagonist made during the first part of the story. I'm easily made uncomfortable by gendered expectations in heterosexual relationships and Cathrine deals with this a lot but not in a way I would have ever expected. My feelings for this game immediately did a 180 when the character Rin was introduced into the story. I ended up appreciating this game an awful lot and think Cathrine has some of the best character development I've witnessed in media. There are a total of 13 endings in this game and so far I have played through and achieved one, which is Rin's true ending. Out of the 3 "Cathrines" you can pursue I went out of my way to begin a relationship with Rin. Apparently choosing Rin requires some amount of effort compared to Kathrine or Cathrine and I had no idea how careful you have to be when selecting dialogue options in order to begin her route because Rin's route felt so natural and effortless to me in this aspect. I feel like I had this unique experience while playing because my personal attraction is regardless of gender and I would have never guessed the biggest moment in Cathrine Full Body is when Rin is revealed to be a transgender woman. I feel that this aspect of Rin's character is so important and makes her probably the most optimal choice when pursuing a relationship with any of the characters. Out of the 3 women in Vincent's life that he has tragically wrapped himself up with, Rin is the most accepting of Vincent. Rin's open-minded nature has such a positive impact on Vincent's character development and growth as a person. I feel like there is a lot to be said about how the most accepting woman in Vincent's life that sees him for who he is regardless of his flaws, is in fact a trans woman. Rin's true ending is so meaningful to me and I think Vincent truthfully lives a happy life with her because their relationship isn't shaped by heteronormative expectations. Cathrine Full Body is so much more than just "the sex game" and has a very honest depiction of intimate relationships, commitment, and making the right choice all while some supernatural elements are mixed in.

#media interaction 2022

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