Nico's Blog

Hello everyone!! This is my last blog for this class! I am so excited, this has been fun having a Tumblr and all, hopefully, I make my page look better than it does right now, but in the meantime, I watched this anime, Hetalia: Axis Powers, which I will say was one of the weirder ones for this class. I understand it does blend humor with historical events, so I guess it was just like a history lesson merged into a show. But, here is my analysis of this anime: The anime personified the countries and presented them as characters with exaggerated stereotypes. The series tackles issues of nationalism, identity, and global politics in a light-hearted yet thought-provoking manner.

The anime's format allows it to address complex and sensitive topics such as World War II and international relations through satirical jokes and statements. By depicting each country as quirky characters, Hetalia makes history accessible and engaging, while also critiquing the absurd characteristics of nationalism and cultural stereotypes. This approach is particularly relevant in Japan, where the balance between acknowledging historical events and maintaining national pride is a delicate issue. Globally, the show prompts viewers to reflect on their own national identities and the stereotypes they encounter or perpetuate. The series also connects to broader discussions in assigned readings on nationalism and the construction of identity. By presenting countries as characters with distinct personalities and relationships, Hetalia shows the audience how national identities are constructed and perceived both internally and externally. This aligns with readings that explore how cultural narratives and historical events shape national consciousness.

Hetalia, however, is not without its controversies. The use of stereotypes, while intended humorously, can sometimes reinforce harmful clichés. If I were to suggest this anime to anyone I would say it's essential to approach the series with an understanding of its satirical nature and have a critical eye toward the stereotypes it portrays. This aspect of Hetalia offers a valuable lesson in media literacy, highlighting the importance of context and intent in interpreting media representations.

When I originally watched this anime, I immediately recognized the contrast between the futuristic (present day) cityscape of Tokyo with the rural town Itomori. The film could be read such that these ways of life are compared. To make this comparison more clear, Itomori existed in the past, and indeed, rural living is becoming less and less common in Japan as Japan urbanizes. Both ways of life have aspects the other desires: while Tokyo has futuristic opportunities and lots to do, Itomori has its own charm.

Upon rewatching the anime, there appears to be some comparison between the male and female sex. When playing the role of Mitsuha, Taki is able to impress her friends through his confidence and his athleticism. In contrast, Mitsuha is able to impress a crush Taki may have had through her feminine charm. Notably, both characters are able to achieve things the other might have desired but did not receive due to their expectations in themselves. For example, Mitsuha was either not interested in or did not have confidence in her athleticism, while Taki was not confident in his ability to allure his colleague.

Nonetheless, near the end of the anime, Taki (in Itomori as Mitsuha) determines he is unable to achieve the task of evacuating Itomori residents, as people don't believe he's Mitsuha. This might mean that they do not find his masculinity appropriate in Mitsuha.

I appreciate how this deviated from what we have been writing about in our past blogs, but I’m still not a fan of it. It does offer an immersive experience that tackles important environmental issues, but it just didn’t engage me or catch my attention much. This game presents a narrative that resonates with both Japanese cultural concerns and global environmental ones. Set in a world where Earth has been destroyed, it reflects the vulnerability of natural disasters and the chaos that technological advancements bring. It aims for a balance between that and environmental preservation. The narrative connects to climate change and degradation which incites players to consider their own actions on the planet they live, making this both a global and native concern. Furthermore, it elicits that degradation drives human ingenuity for environmental restoration.

Personally, the themes of this game related to my own experiences of being raised in a world where technological progression has outstripped and overshadowed environmental considerations constantly. It further sheds light and is a reminder to prioritize ecological importance and restoration, furthering reducing out environmental footprint and helping better preserve and restore our planet. Through witnessing the impacts of climate change first hand, I advocate for more sustainable practices and, as mentioned in my previous blog post, that is mainly done through participating in annual walk-a-thons and even spreading awareness locally in campus. This further connects to the readings by navigating human relationships with natural ones and the need to recognize both aspects as an integral part of a system. They are not separate entities, but, instead, need each other to facilitate restorative acts and encourage individuals to preserve the planet for future generations to come. It highlights how human and ecological restoration must go hand in hand and that one thing cannot happen without the other supporting it. This is a little different than the Nausicaa Blog Post since that one relied on the planet to restore itself overtime, but this one relies more so on humans and the plant collectively.

This was my first time watching Nausicaä and I enjoyed it for the most part. I am going to critique it with the lens of instrumentalism.

The story is set in a post-nuclear world, following Nausicaä, a princess who lives in a village that attempts to distance itself from reliance on technology. Nausicaä is shown to be a strong leader and does not follow traditional gender roles. In the movie, she is a character that symbolizes resistance to environmental instrumentalism, where people believe that nature is just another tool for humans to use and that they can manipulate nature in any means necessary as long as it is beneficial for themselves. This belief is represented in the Pejite people who try to use the Ohms for their attacks and they have large mechanical ships to increase their military strength. Nausicaä represents this viewpoint that nature should be protected because of her nurturing nature towards the environment: an example would be how she tried to save an Ohm when she was really young or when she let Tito bite her to show that there is nothing to be afraid of. This does not follow the third wave of feminism as it broke down these roles such as nurturing for women and aggressive for men. A third waver would likely disagree with this part of the message.

Nausicaä finds that the forest plants are not toxic and the toxicity comes from the soil itself, which has been poisoned by the nuclear war that ravaged before. Nausicaä appeared to be the martyr of environmental protection with how she died and came back, completing the prophecy that Obaba foretold. I do think that the message that action should be taken to save the environment would be better served had Nausicaä died, instead of being revived by the Ohms, but I digress.

The End (part 3)

Part three was much of a trip comared to the last two episodes of the anime. This movie follows the events of the last two episodes from the tv show. We see that after the final angel, humans are now considering using the evas to push humans to a more advance evolution called the Human Instrumentality Project. With an angel still in the terminal dogma, the head of the project Shinji's dad goes and starts putting his plan into works by using Rei. Shinji is still asking for help from a comatose Asuka. He is still wanting to act like he's lost, as if he lost all hope after killing his former friend who turned out to be an angel. The world government , now wants to stop this Human Instrumentality Project from happening , so they set forward a massive military operation, in which many are killed including Misato when she was protecting Shinji from the invasion. This propels him down to where his Eva is and now after a push from his Eva we see him try to get into action. Meanwhile we see Asuka excelling in violence, after realizing what the AT fields were and that her mother is watching her. Showing once again that she was excelling in her performance of hegemonic masculinity. At one point the Artificail Angels take over and destroy Asuka's EVA and Shinji goes beserk after seeing this. As soon as he is overpowered from the Angels , he was used in the Human Instrumentality Project, and everything around him is destroyed, people are vaporized, and the souls of everyone and thing around him are transfered to this giant egg, thanks to Rei and the previous angel, combining with lilith in the terminal dogma. This is were we see the dream sequence we saw before where Shinji and Asuka are in a apartment. Shinji still wanting to be saved, but Asuka isnt buying it stating hes just using her. Annd much like the older shows ending he comes to the same conclusion. Both him and Asuka are transported to this building surrounded by a sea of either blood or LCL fluid , and we can see that Shinji trys to play the hegemonic masculinity card but cant go through with it trying to choke and kill Asuka.

The Plot Of The Anime

We skip to the later episodes starting with the 8th episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion. After Shinji Ikari (Third Child), the main character, finally meets Rei Ayanami (First Child), he will also meet Asuka Langley Soryu (Second Child), who unlike Rei, who is obedient, quiet, and mysterious, Asuka is more violence-orientated and talkative who can control her Evangelion Unit-02 very well in combat. He does get some confidence from Asuka, leading to improved results when he decided to give another try controlling Evangelion Unit-01. However, his confidence is lost when he faces an Angel on his own, which creates a void that sucks him in, unable to escape but panic. Shinji would contemplate about his life and who he is, turning his mech violent and shredding the Angel.

After a few episodes later, on episode 24, we see Asuka's mental health being deteriorated because of her childhood, turning her from a violent and competitive child to a desolate one. Shinji also lost his friends and the city is left of its remains. But, Shinji finds another person who also felt the same as him, Kaworu Nagisa (Fifth Child). Rei and Kaworu are from similar origins, both being half human and half Angel and Rei is found to be a clone that can be replaced for every death. Kaworu is quite affectionate towards Shinji even though both are male, but also complex as he is half-angel whose purpose is to end humanity, eventually letting Shinji decide humanity. Finally, on episode 26, we see the characters contemplating about their struggles. Eventually, Shinji finds himself in his reality and he comes to accept who he is, that he isn't actually alone and it's because of how he perceives it. At the end, he is congratulated by the people he knows.

The Issue In Question

We can discuss about how one would come to hate themselves, especially who they are in their own perception. Shinji, for example, has traits that make him different from most men, having queer masculinity traits (although he is straight), meaning he does not possess the traits of hegemony masculinity. After understanding his so called flaw, he started to hate himself. At the end, he became convinced that it is ok for who he is and there are supporters who congratulate him because of his newfound understanding.

The Issue Addressed In Japan & Beyond

In our world, there are people with personalities, not just the fixed personality of a male for male and a female for female, but one's gender could intertwin with another biological sex or an unidentified identity. Specifically focusing on biological males, this queer masculinity is a unique type of masculinity compared hegemony masculinity, as it challenges that traditional hegemonic norms. This is especially common for men who is associated with LGBTQ+, although it is also widely seen in straight men.

The issue is that there are men who believe they are in a state of aloneness because they believe their personality, or "masculinity" do not fit the preferred ones in society that make one a socially ideal person. What they can do is to rethink their approaches about themselves and think of those who care about them (families, relatives, closer friends, etc.), or find social spaces that they feel comfortable in finding new people that they can relate to. This is basically like when Shinji met Kaworu and realized their similarities where both do not fit in the category of hegemonic masculinity.

My Personal Takes

Neon Genesis Evangelion Part 1

I have been to multiple anime conventions in the past. In 2021, I lived in California for a year due to my military service, and there I took full advantage of the plethora of large cities with great opportunities for anime conventions. The first convention I ever went to was Animanga. This was right as Covid-19 restrictions were beginning to be lifted and this convention was one of the first in California to be held in a long time. Because of this, the attendance there was far greater than the convention was expecting. The three friends I was with and myself waited probably 3 hours in a massive line before we were even able to get in. It reminds me of the scene in Genshiken where they waited hours in the rain for a similar convention. Once we were inside, we finally got to experience what the convention had to offer. We were met with countless cosplayers, rows and rows of booths and an overall fun atmosphere of people with shared interests. Here is a picture of some super awesome cosplays of characters from My Neighbor Totoro we saw.

The main part of almost every convention is the artist/merchant alleys where countless rows of booths carrying huge amounts of original art, manga, and props that can all be purchased. Browsing all the merchandise and seeing things from our favorite shows was definitely the highlight of the experience. I’m not usually one to buy a lot of things at conventions, but I always try to get at least a T-Shirt when I go. At Animanga, I ended up buying a T-Shirt featuring Guts from Berserk.

I have always wanted to cosplay, and unfortunately I didn’t have anything prepared for my first convention experience at Animanga, but when my friends and I found out about another upcoming convention in Sacramento called SacAnime, we wanted to make sure we had something prepared. One of my good friends at the time got me into Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Nintendo Switch, and I decided to get a cosplay together for Dimitri, which I think turned out pretty well. Here is me (left) along with a woman we met cosplaying as Sothis from the same game (middle) and my friend as Byleth (right).

SacAnime was a much larger convention than Animanga, with cosplay competitions, guest speakers, and of course a massive merchant alley. It was really an incredible experience getting to witness and be a part of otaku culture and see how people engage in fan productivity through cosplay and original art. I think that anime conventions are really something special, as many people who engage in otaku culture are often fairly introverted (speaking from experience) and these conventions motivate others to engage in fun social events with others who share similar interests.

I have been to several other conventions after I moved to North Carolina, including two with my wife and one that we both cosplayed at. We decided to cosplay as Meliodas and Elizabeth from The Seven Deadly Sins as it was an anime we had both seen and enjoyed. This particular photo is from Animazement in Raleigh, NC (2022).

Finally, actual queer rep in this class! A race I can actually have a horse in! Please don't mind my excessively genderqueer ramblings about this decidedly genderqueer anime. It will not be very structurally sound and organized, that's for sure.

The lecture for this module covers TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists), basically people who call themselves feminists while also devaluing women simply as those who were "born to make babies." It's fully antithetical to the feminist perspective of women just being people who are as diverse as any population; there is no one way to be a woman, there is no one "woman" body or "feminine" presentation.

This segues into the point that society has conflated gender, sex, and sexuality as fully connected, when in reality humans are extremely varied in physical sex characteristics, gender presentation, and sexuality and sexual practices.

This leads me to the anime in question. The first episode is about the main character Nitori - it's unclear what gender she is exactly, but she is certainly transfem - who is experimenting with feminine presentation. She goes outside dressed as a girl for the first time and we see her walking around, watching a cat, looking at her reflection in shop doors, as a young girl would - she's experiencing everyday life as a girl for the first time.

She looks up to Takatsuki, who dresses like a boy unashamedly and is praised by her peers for doing so, despite awkward questions from adults. Nitori wants to live life like that, able to present however she wants without needing to worry about what others think of her. When she gets advice, it's summed up as "do what you want, but people will think you're a pervert for wearing a skirt." It's a sad reality that a middle schooler has to worry about looking like a pervert just for wearing a skirt. Historically it's seen more "acceptable" for a woman (or those perceived as women) to dress masculine, while a man (those perceived as men) have a much harder time finding support dressed feminine.

However, on the flip side, someone AMAB dressing femininely is more typically labeled or "clocked" as transgender, while someone AFAB dressing masculinely is generally regarded as a tomboy or lesbian. It happens regardless of whether the person is or is not trans, is or is not gay. This was my experience growing up pre-transition, as no matter how hard you try to break gender expectations, you will still be put into boxes and categories by those around you. You can wear pride patterns and pronoun pins, but the only people who will listen are those who already know. Whether through an air of transphobia or allyship, it will happen in some way, sometimes by those you least expect.

This is what the prof was talking about in the lecture about how gender is a social construct, yet being artificially constructed does not make it any less prevalent in society. It's also where the term TERF comes in - someone can try all as they might to appear masculine, but until they "pass" they are seen as a lost lesbian. They can try all as they might to appear feminine, but until they "pass" they are seen as a pervert invading women's spaces. It comes down to what TERFs and other transphobes "decide" that your sex assigned at birth must have been (and trust me, no matter what they say... they can't always tell. Remember when they tried to claim that Michelle Obama and Beyoncé were trans women?) The sex-gender linkage is a connected part of our society, where as humans we want to categorize everything into neat little boxes. If you're androgynous, intersex, or don't fall neatly in line with said boxes, you have to get put somewhere. You are a man, a woman, or in some circles you're nonbinary. Are you transmasc or transfem? You have to be "man" nonbinary or "woman" nonbinary. It all circles back to the gender binary anyways. In the same vein, Nitori is forced to choose between whether she is a boy or a girl at school. Her girlfriend Anna isn't interested in girls and breaks up with her when she realizes that Nitori dressing like a girl isn't just for show. This anime has a theme about gender presentation being a show, where Nitori's friends and girlfriend are supportive of her dressing femininely in private or while hanging out with them, but as soon as she shows up at school dressed like a girl they won't talk to her and act shocked, not wanting to be seen as freaks for being friends with her.

This was probably the most intense scene in this anime - where Doi comes in to see Nitori dressed as a girl, and we get two uncomfortably long silent shots of the closed door and Doi touching Nitori's hair. We skipped quite a few episodes, so I'm assuming we missed Doi's introduction. As a trans person these 15 seconds or so were the most uncomfortable I felt during the anime, even during scenes where Nitori is being berated and insulted. At least with transphobes, you can expect the insults, you know what's going to happen when they see you denying their precious sex-gender linkage. But sometimes the worst violence and humiliation comes from those you show trust to, especially alone behind closed doors. I was genuinely expecting to hear a slap sound or Doi shouting from behind the door.

Genuinely cathartic when she said she hated him. I'm not going to debate what Doi's sexuality could be - what matters most is how he treats Nitori like entertainment, wanting her to dress femininely so he can both mock her and feel attracted to her.

DOI THE OG CHASER !!!!!!!!