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pandasmagorica · 11 months

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The right rec for the right person

So I've been sharing my interest in yaoi with my best friend and discovering that her interests and mine don't necessarily coincide. That has me thinking about how I would go about recommending yaoi to a particular person. And like many fans before me, I realized I have to customize my recs to that person's interests.

So here are my recs, starting with my top ten (long post):

For someone who's politically engaged: Not Me

(YouTube) This series has a major focus on class differences and how people of different economic levels deal with everyday life. A major character who has had a comfortable life and for whom is foreseen a comfortable future throws himself into a maelstrom of guerilla political activity among people who see themselves selves as have-nots.

It further has the benefit of having been directed by a trans woman who totally rocks it - it's the best y-series I've seen to date and I want to see more of her work.

I've seen disagreement as to whether this should even be considered a y-series. I think the argument is irrelevant. Yaoi has become a spectrum and the lines can be blurry. That's just a sign of the emerging maturity of the genre.

Note: Most of the writeups after the jump are much shorter, and there about a dozen of them.

For someone who is into theater, including classic plays and their modern adaptations: Bad Buddy

(YouTube) Khun Aof's take on the Romeo and Juliet story is an insanely good ride. Much digital ink has been spilled here on Tumblr about how the series parallels the original tale and subverts it to create what is ultimately a romantic comedy.

Also has the best intrusive product placements I have ever seen in my life.

Once they've watched it, send them to @shortpplfedup's tag #InFairVerona for an account of Bad Buddy's Romeo & Juliet parallels but scroll to the end to read them chronologically.

For someone who's spiritual: He's Coming to Me

(YouTube) One of the things many of us humans find comfort in is the idea that there is something beyond this life. We can't prove it but we believe it's there. He's Coming to Me dives deep into Buddhist beliefs about the afterlife (I'm not Buddhist so I can't say how accurately it does so) in the story of a young man who can see ghosts and develops a friendship and more with a particular one who is been subject to an untimely death. Quite heartwarming and fun.

For someone who likes their entertainment light: Cherry Magic

(CrunchyRoll) This is one of the sweetest yaoi I have ever seen. It's light. It's fun. It has magical realism. It doesn't demand too much of the viewer. It's just all around fun. While there is mild homosexual panic, it doesn't get hateful or last long.

For someone who enjoys over the top acting and epic stories with huge stakes: To Sir, With Love

(YouTube) To my understanding, this is a mainstream Thai soap opera with a queer-themed plot. A mother in 1940s Thailand will do anything up to and including murder to hide the fact that her son is gay. Magic, betrayal, and dead bodies abound and the acting is large. For the portayal of a milieu that is so homophobic, the series is ultimately refreshingly queer affirming.

I recommend watching this with the videos where the episodes are split up into four parts each. I kept running into trouble with the subtitles breaking partway through full episode versions when I tried to watch them that way.

For someone who's looking for a quiet story: Tale of 1000 stars

(YouTube) The start of this one isn't very promising: spoiled brat engaged in dangerous activities. But ultimately, this becomes a quiet and beautiful story set in the middle of nowhere in Thailand about a slow burn romance.

For someone in middle age who regrets some of their past decisions but doesn't wallow in it: 55:15 Never Too Late:

(YouTube) OK, OK, so this isn't a yaoi series. But who wouldn't want to undo some of the decisions of their past? (If that's you, congratulations, I'm happy for you.) Not sure whether to call this science-fiction or magical realism, but this story of five 55 year olds suddenly thrown into their 15 year old bodies and how they negotiated that is so much fun and as an oldster, I could totally identify with it. And no, I don't want to be 15 again. There is a yaoi subplot.

For someone who is wrestling with whether to be out as gay or not: Gaya Sa Pelicula

(YouTube) This is the best y-series that I've seen come out of the Philippines. A young odd-couple pairing find themselves living together and falling in love. One is very comfortable in his gayness while the other struggles with it, and it puts a wedge in their relationship. Very affirming about being able to choose for yourself. Has a matured gay as a positive side character.

For someone who has lost someone and is willing to feel, even wants to feel, their loss: Eternal Yesterday

(Gagaoolala) This series is melancholy, profoundly sad. It is also beautiful. When the person you love is killed and you get to have them for a little more time, how do you use that time? How do you deal with the uncertainty?

OK this one's a bit awkward because it's on Gagaoolala and you have to commit to a subscription (at least one month) to watch it. But it's a fine work and deserves my recommendation. Consider it like renting a movie.

For someone who feels like they've known somebody from a prior life: Until We Meet Again

(YouTube) This rec definitely has to come with a content warning: a double suicide in the first few minutes. But the story about how two men who have spent their whole lives feeling like they are looking for somebody only to discover that they were lovers in a former life is like the peeling of an onion is it reveals aspects of what they once had, as well as discovering the people they are now.

Some consent issues which apparently have no impact, although mercifully brief.

And reaching outside of my top ten:

For someone who has lost a pet and is okay talking about it: Choco Milk Shake

(YouTube) It's a fun fantasy. A young man's dead cat and dog show up to visit as living humans, and fun ensues. You need to be OK with pet-spirit/human romance. (I've seen reviews that some people find this aspect creepy.)

For someone who wants something really cerebral: 180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us

(Gagaoolala) This one is almost like a stage play, a six hour stage play. A young adult meets a man who is important to the young man's dead father and falls for him. If you're OK with the age gap, this is an intelligent, melancholic work that is worth the attention you will need to give it.

Again, consider it like a movie rental.

#yaoi #bl series #thai bl #thai series #pandasmagorica

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beneaththetangles · 4 years

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The Samurai Steps Out on Faith…

“Would you consider joining our team?”

I have to admit, when I saw those words appear on my screen a few months ago, I was beyond stunned. Me? You want ME to join up with Beneath the Tangles?!

Me? A guy who updates his own blog once a year AT BEST?!

Me? A guy who wrote a scathing series of articles about a VERY controversial subject resulting in some PRODIGIOUSLY cutting reviews and commentary leaving me mentally MIA for a whole month?!

ME? A guy who has been known to turn into an Angry Black Man on a wide variety of subjects including politics?!

You seriously want me, a mid-thirty’s black man from Louisiana who just so happens to have spent the last 25 years of his life consuming and loving anime to come write for Beneath the Tangles?

Knowing all this, you want me?

“Well…alright then. You got me. I probably can’t give you much, but you’ll get the best of what I got.”

And with that…here I am.

Hi. I’m Joshua. You can call me Josh. Or Cajun Samurai. Whichever you prefer. Heck, I’m not picky. I’ve been called so many things in the course of my life. Heck, the last few MONTHS I’ve been called some REAL colorful things. Heck, once when I was engaged in a heated political debate (as I tend to do), I was once called a lizard. I wore that name with pride for a while. Lizards are cool. Steve Irwin, God rest his soul, taught me that. In any case, for simplicity sake, I’m Josh. I’m sure most of you got to know me really well in my introduction on Twitter when I spammed your timelines with anime likes and dislikes. If you think THAT was a lot of info, you should see what I post on my own Twitter account. I’m the self-crowned prince of reaction pictures and live-tweeting.

As I mentioned above, I’m a Louisiana native. And before you ask, no, I don’t live in New Orleans. Honestly, I don’t really go to New Orleans that often unless it’s for my yearly trek to MechaCon…and even then, after next year, MechaCon will be going bye-bye, so my trips to NOLA will probably be even more infrequent. Unless I can score some Saints tickets. Cam Jordan, if you’re reading this, I know you’re an anime fan. Hook a brother up.

Once upon a time, I once had a pretty okay blog called The Cajun Samurai. It was just a place where I could get some reviews done and write up some small articles. At the time I started it, I was working a desk job that allowed me plenty of free time to write until my heart was content. But then, things happened, and I got laid off from my cushy job of seven years, and I had to go back out into the real world and do some real work. From a major airline to a major shipping company, to a local automotive parts company to a major lab testing company, I’ve been blessed to see so many different things and have so many different experiences, but sadly, my time to work on my blog was truncated severely and my poor blog was dang near neglected.

I did, however, find time in late January to write up a series of posts about a…particular hot topic that shook the anime community in 2019. I won’t get into it here, but suffice it to say, it was a MAJOR project for me, and a couple of my more…heated posts…caught some REAL undesired attention…which put me in a mental place that I did NOT want to be in. I found myself second guessing a lot of what I did, and I spent the entirety of February wondering if I was actually right in what I wrote. Did I go too far? Did I take it to a level that it didn’t need to go to? Did I compromise my own spiritual beliefs? All this went through my head and it was just so overwhelming. Suffice it to say, when I look back at February 2020, it won’t be the best of times. However, here we are in August, and, in the words of Elton John, “I’m still standing.” However, I can honestly say I didn’t get through it alone, not by a long shot.

Faith was something that I leaned on every step of the way. If it wasn’t but for the love and sweet mercy of the Lord, I would’ve driven myself completely insane. There was SO MUCH prayer going on during that time, and sometimes it was a struggle to get by on an hourly basis, to say nothing of a daily basis. In fact, I fully believe it was God working through TWWK that provided so much support to me both spiritually and emotionally; I can’t even put it into words how much I relied on his support and strength and just knowing that someone else out there was pulling for me, praying for me…it’s a beautiful feeling. I know I’ve probably driven him crazy with my many messages during that time, especially since he has his own family and life, but honestly, I doubt I would’ve been able to get through this without him and some of my other friends online. Also, knowing that the Beneath the Tangles crew were praying for me touched my heart so much. I owe them so much.

Then, one day, TWWK asked me that infamous question about coming over to write and do some Twitter posts. At first, I admit I was hesitant; I was almost ready to turn him down because of all the issues that I went through over my blog posts. I would never…EVER want to expose anyone to drama that involves myself and another person or group of people, and I felt that the target on my back, however faded and off center, would be a target on anyone I was affiliated with. But then I remembered a bit of scripture that pretty much smacked me across the face like Mrs. Kamiya slapped Tai across the face in that one episode of Digimon:

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. – Joshua 1:9

“Be not afraid”. “Be NOT afraid”.

Those words rung in my head loud as a bell. And it was for ME specifically. For this particular bit of scripture to be found in the book of JOSHUA…the book I am named after that tells the story of a man who had nothing but his faith to step out on…it was like a spiritual “Hey, Listen!” Sometimes, you have to step out on the strength of your faith and see where it leads you. It’s one thing to say that you believe in God and you trust in God, but at some point in your lives, be it making a small decision like joining a Christian anime blog, or a large decision like getting married or starting that new business, you have to take that leap OF faith ON your faith.

Many times I’ve found myself on that cliff about to take that leap of faith and many times I thought “Dang it, is this the right thing to do? Did I do everything right? Maybe I should rethink this…” but then I say “You know what, God? You brought me to this point. You said You would not put more on me than I can bear. You picked me up each time I fell. You know the outcome of this. What do I have to be afraid of? I trust YOU. Lets do this.”

And so…here I am. For as long as you’ll have me, I humbly offer my services to you, dear reader. It is my hope and prayer that God blesses me with the writing acumen that will entertain you, challenge your thinking, and maybe make your day just a little bit better.

With that out the way, borrowing an idea from TWWK, I offer up my (CURRENT) top 30 anime of all time as a way to introduce myself anime-wise. Keep in mind, this list is always changing. In fact, up to the time of posting, this list has probably gone through about 20 changes. Why? Because just like the autumnal wind, my tastes and interests in anime ebb and flow. Today’s hotness will probably be tomorrow’s “meh”-ness. But as it stands right now, this is it. Yes, there’s some old stuff, yes there’s some new stuff…there may even be a few titles that will surprise you. Hopefully this list, and any subsequent posts, will give you some kind of idea of what kind of anime I like, and by extension, maybe what kind of person I am.

30. Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches 29. Hitorijime My Hero 28. Silver Spoon 27. Bunny Drop (Usagi Drop) – PLEASE DON’T READ THE MANGA. PLEASE… 26. Lucky Star 25. Daily Lives of High School Boys 24. Hunter X Hunter 23. Sarazanmai 22. Nichijou 21. My Love Story 20. Azumanga Daioh 19. Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit 18. Persona 4: The Animation 17. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad 16. Kodocha 15. Nerima Daikon Brothers 14. Digimon Tamers 13. FLCL (Original) 12. Neon Genesis Evangelion 11. Ghost Stories (English Dub) 10. Aria: The Animation 9. Nagi no Asukara 8. Assassination Classroom 7. Toradora! 6. Mysterious Girlfriend X 5. Planetes 4. Aria: The Origination 3. Aria: The Natural 2. Cowboy Bebop 1. Digimon Adventure (1999)

Admittedly, I’m not a HUGE fan of countdown lists because I always feel I’m forgetting something and I’m never FULLY satisfied with my choices, but I think this is a pretty comprehensive list! Of course, I’ll probably lay awake in bed tonight scrolling through Crunchyroll and think “OH CRAP! I FORGOT XYZ SHOW!!” and then kick myself for not including it, but hey, for the time being, this list is pretty much THE list. Just know that, quite literally, this list was updated and picked over all the way up to the day it was published!

And I think I’ve taken enough of your time! Funny how this post went from just being an introduction to a testimony to an anime countdown, huh? As a southerner, we tend to digress quite often. I ask that you please put up with my many digressions as I start this new God-given path I set out on with my new friends. Ya’ll have a good one and, as we say down here in Louisiana: Laissez le bon temps rouler! (let the good times roll!)

#Anime #Christianity #Articles #Author: The Cajun Samurai

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midnightblue243 · 7 years

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While it is unfair for Mob Psycho 100 not winning the “award”, it is also unfair for Yuri!!! on ICE to get this much hate and salt.

Why? Because it’s neither the show’s nor the fandom’s fault this controversy happens. It’s all Crunchyroll’s fault this happened

A really long post but won’t cut it since this needs to be read.

The voting system is problematic. There’s no word “unfair” in this kind of voting system, and spamming isn’t prohibited.

Last year I had almost no time to watch anime at all. Pretty much YOI was the only anime that I truly watched because I’ve been hooked since last March, so I know I may not be the right person to talked about this since I haven’t actually watched the others. And i’m sure there’s a lot of people who’s the same as me.

When I first saw a voting page and realized that it was available to vote countless time, I was like “Really, are you seriously allowing people to spam the vote?”

Crunchyroll is a big site. One of the biggest anime community site. Of course that when they make an “awards”, it looks like a huge deal to a lot of people. (When it is just an internet poll, not an Oscar or Golden Globe.)

There’s a lot of informal voting webpage like “Anime Trending” on Facebook in which they also use this kind of voting system and the results sometimes oppose to a lot of viewvers (some weeks Victuuri was not the first in couple ranking) and people then being salty over it, but that’s that, cuz everyone knows it’s just an internet poll.

Back to Crunchyroll. The award is divided in categories, making it look even more look like an Oscar or Golden Globe. This is where the controversy start.

Crunchyroll’s voting system is not suitable to categories award.

As many people said, it’s an all-in-all popularity vote. Seeing the most popular anime of 2016 wins every single categories it was nominated can be a bit disheartening but not surprising. And really, when any of the film got nominated in an award, that means the show have an potential to win already.

Let me give you one example of the affect of the voting system. This year’s Tokyo anime awards will be judged from a top 100 anime airing between 1 Dec year before to Nov 30 of the previous year that people voted using twitter and they were allowed to re-vote every 2 hours.

(This picture was taken roughly 1 moth before the death line.)

Now what happened was that while nobody make a fuss of YoI being the first place, the second place, Cute High Earth Defense Club, got some salt from the western anime fans like “The poll is biased” or “It’s not deserved” because thee other famous show like Re:Zero was at 30-something and Kimi no Nawa, an insanely famouse Shinkai Makoto’s works, was at 80.....what may happened here was that 1) spamming happened 2) some don’t know about the vote. However, this poll wasn’t a final. I think the top 100 wil have to be judged by the judges to decided the winner of TAAF.

THAT IS HOW THE BIG AWARD SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE! Using professional judges to find the winner.

And you know that this kind of “unfairness” happened all the time.

An common example can be founded in game shows, especially Got Talent. For me, in my country, the runner-up was more “deserving” than the winner many times.

The first season was a girl singer who was already rich and had a great yet common voice, while the runner-up was a handicapped who played guitar with one hand. The latest season’s winner was an acrobatic twins while the runner-up was a guy who inhumanly bended and twisted himself like he has a bones of rubber (X) who actually participated for the second time after the lost of the previous season to some whining brats team. You knew who has a real talent but sometimes the most deserved sometimes lose when there’s a vote.

And here’s some talk about Yuri on ICE’s popularity that needs to be respected.

I know that Yuri on ICE won some of the award by popularity,and I do feel a bit glum by that. However,Yuri on ICE’s popularity is not something common. No one really thought it would success. A lot of big studios rejected it because the skating scenes were a huge job and may not worth the effort, only MAPPA the risk-taker took the project and made it blossomed to the point that it rode on the top of almost every ranking in anime world.

However, some people said that it’s overhyped. TBH I really don’t understand this term much cuz if somethings get insanely popular (like Undertales) then that’s mean the thing is loved by a lot of people and there’s nothing such as “was loved too much” unless it came from a POV of the person who doesn’t like the things and try to forced their opinion to others face.

Okay back to YoI. Especially after the award, there is a lot of “ YoI is just a baiting anime that makes fujoshis go crazy.” or “YoI is just a show solely for a queer fan” (The latter is quite homophobic but there really is this comment.) Now with the amazing analyzation of @thatshamelessyaoishipper about YOI is not a bait (x) a discrimination and possibly misogyny within the fandom (x) pretty much sums up of what’s going on in regards to the LGBTQA+ and yaoi fangirls side of popularity. (you know that the real gayness of this show also made some people dropped this series?)

However, Yuri on ICE manages to appeal a lot of non-anime fans by many assets of them. Breathtaking OST (seriously i cried when I first heared of the full yuri on ICE song like I had been waiting for 8 moths for that.), Animation (will talk about that later), figure skating (the figure skating fans would at least intrigued by that) that lots of world class skaters watched it and even debut in the show.

Having a wide variety of the viewers is a big confirmation of the show. For example, Kimi no Nawa managed to appeal a lot of people who isn’t an animation fan by it’s stunning visuals (typical Shinkai) and a unique story, making it the top box office in many countries. Same goes with YoI but Kimi no Nawa is easier to access to the non-anime fan than Yoi, being a 2-hour movie and a 12-episode anime.

An another thing why the fandom are so agressive in voting is becuase we want MORE of it. While most of other anime either based on some other media which some of them already confirm season 2, YoI still haven’t officially announced S2 yet. The fandom try to support the show in any way possible, even if it’s just a meaningless internet poll.

Yuri on ICE isn’t not deserved, but isn’t Ready to deserved.

I will never say YoI isn’t deserved best animation, but I wil say that YoI is not ready to deserved or isn’t deserved YET. This post shows an inaccurate accussion by a salty people and a brilliant explanation of how animation works and how YoI’s animation is not the best it could be. Like I’ve said, MAPPA took YoI, the show that big studios refuse to take a challenge. MAPPA is not a powerhouse studio was given a low budget due to a lack of hype. If they have more time and budget, everything will be better,really. So go buy Bluray/DVD.

Back to voting. What Crunchyroll should have done?

1. 1-vote-per account

Sign in an CR account or create a new one. An account can only use one vote per category. Just sign in is free. I’ve seen many survey site using this.

2. Using the same methods as TAAF.

Okay this one will be more tricky but I think it’s possible. Make a nomination poll in each category and use judges to find the winner. Now this wil be almost the same as Oscar and Golden Globes or other formal awards.

If you wanna make it look professional, then use a professional system.

To sums up everything.

Crunchyroll should have use a better voting system if they gonna try to make this “award” look important and is not just a meaningless internet poll (which it will always be).

Yuri on ICE’s popularity shouldn’t be degraded as “some fujoshi shit” (cuz if that’s true then BL must be a top genre already) and shouldn’t be disrespected.

As one of a fan of YoI who have been watching it sine the first pv in March 2016 and worried that the show may not succeed knowing it’s rough pre-production, to see it finally got a recognition it deserved but then got hated more than necessary because of some poorly functioned internet poll by a streaming website is sad for me.

There’s nothing wrong of voting what you like. Spamming vote isn’t wrong if there’s no rules about it. Even if the results doesn’t turn out “fair” in everyone’s eyes, please remember that it is just an internet poll that won’t give any solid benefit to the anime (in this case it gives YoI a backlash.)

Well I guess even this can’t calm some salty people, but just so you know being salty wouldn’t change anything.

#yuri on ice #yoi #victuuri #crunchyroll #everything is so unfair #my post

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