JPT1311 😲

The themes being identity, connection, and the passage of time are self-evident and the narrative of body-swapping between the two protagonists conveys the message across to the audience pretty well in my opinion. It sheds light on the intrinsic nature of humans to connect with others and understand them better, in essence, to grow fonder to each other regardless of background and differences. This is especially crucial to our world with the diverse cultures it holds and the interconnectivity it could bring. The deeper focus on natural disasters like the comet definitely relates back to these connections and how fragile it can be to both build them up and lose them instantaneously. Unexpected challenges are bound to rise and, from what I can tell, this anime sheds light on the resilience meant to overcome them.

The anime made me reflect on the importance of maintaining relationships whether it be with your significant other, your family or friends. This summer, I have been staying in Ohio for an internship which has been difficult for me in terms of reaching out to my friends and family and maintaining that relationship that we have. Distance definitely serves as a barrier for me and oftentimes makes me unmotivated to keep those connections strong. However, I see how the characters’ journey to find each other, despite the space and time, highlight the power and force of a human connection. I am not worried about going back to Florida and experiencing different behaviors with my friends and family, because I know we can go periods without talking sometimes and still be stronger and the same as ever. The narrative of the film encourages people to reflect on how our identities are being shaped and it also underscores the importance of dialogue and cultural exchange. These shared narratives could further foster a sense of belonging which we have discussed in previous modules.

Ok wow, what? I have never ever in my life heard or seen anything about Hetalia: Axis Powers, even the name sounds unfamiliar to me. I find this interesting since skimming through my classmates posts revealed that apparently it's a massive, infamous piece of media. And honestly, I'm kinda glad that I've never ended up on this side of the internet lol. My little research showed massive fandom community around this anime, and some of them are a bit disturbing considering the nature of the series.

Having us watch Hetalia as the last piece of anime of this class is so ironic, and I totally see the vision. We started the class with a module dedicated to expanding our open-mindedness, as well, as understanding the harms of essentialism towards Japan, and ultimately any other nation. Hetalia is literally the embodiment of everything we've learned, except backwards.

So the main reason why this anime is problematic is not even the stereotypes. Political satire is what I assume was the intention of the creators and writers of the show, but it's a very poor attempt at it. I don't understand the target audience it was aimed at. I feel like the amount of oversimplification of historical events and blunt outdated (even for 2009) cliches with zero insightful commentary and obnoxious characters is not a good basis for an older adolescent audience, given that it's 16+. And I could honestly forgive obscure, and often insensitive representation of the nations, if only it didn't take a weird turn depicting war, especially WW2. The way it tried to make something cute out of events that, outside of this anime, are usually seen as some of the darkest moments in human history—like Nazism and the Holocaust is just.. It just didn’t sit right with me, seeing something so serious and tragic being turned into a very low quality joke. I personally can enjoy provocative humor and most of the time unbothered by it, but Hetalia is just bad.

What it does well, though, is sparking public discourse that can potentially serve as acknowledgement and resolution of cultural issues, like national stereotypes. It evokes emotions, and emotions evoke conversations.

I had never heard of the game “Xenoblade Chronicles 2”, but based on the cutscenes we watched it seems really cool. I enjoyed how instead of watching an anime, we had to pay attention to the animations of a video game. I forgot that there are more animations than just anime. Watching this cutscenes, you can see the effort and dedication animators put into these games. Can you imagine if you were playing a video game and the graphics were so bad? You would lose interest so fast.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has great narratives and animations that make you feel more interesting and invested in playing. The game is set in the vast world of Alrest, a land comprised of Titans, massive creatures that carry entire civilizations on their backs. Players follow the journey of Rex, who forms a bond with Pyra, a mysterious and powerful entity known as a Blade. Together, they seek to reach Elysium, a paradise atop the World Tree, which is believed to be the last hope for humanity. The narrative of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is both epic and deeply personal, exploring themes of friendship, sacrifice, and the search for a place to call home. The game’s combat system is a unique blend of real-time action and strategic planning, where players control Rex and his companions, each wielding their own Blades with distinct abilities. The story is driven by a cast of well-developed characters, each with their own motivations and backstories that intertwine with Rex’s quest. As players progress, they encounter various factions and adversaries, each adding layers of complexity and intrigue to the narrative. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also features a robust progression system, where players can level up their characters, enhance their abilities, and unlock new skills through a detailed skill tree.

This brief explanation of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 probably does not do the game justice, but it does sound like a fun game!

I have very fond memories of watching Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind last year. During my and Dad's flight to Japan last summer, we downloaded all the Ghibli films we hadn't watched in preparation for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Going to Japan, but ESPECIALLY the Ghibli Museum was on my bucket list for so long because I'm such a huge fan of Ghibli, so I wanted to make sure I could enjoy every bit of it! And I'm glad I did, as I don't know why I never watched Nausicaä until then. Not only is it (kind of) the studio's first release (since technically it was created and directed by Hayao Miyazaki even though the studio was founded after its release), but it's also just a beautiful animated story that holds up great even today.

During my second watch, I noticed Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind has a similar setting and tone to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Both stories are set in this post-apocalyptic world populated with monstrous, alien creatures. Although, it seems Nausicaä's world is more far gone than Evangelion's. The air is barely breathable due to the spore-like infection covering almost every inch of the Earth, and massive insects that could crush any remaining human civilizations. However, unlike the Tokyo-3 citizens, Nausicaä stresses to her people that cohabitation with insects and humans is possible. If anything, similar to Evangelion, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind illustrates that humans are the root cause of violence and destruction. The soil and water were polluted by the wars thousands of years ago, which caused the air to be unbreathable, all the plants to be lethal and the toxic jungles to grow.

Side note, I absolutely love the music for this movie. Joe Hisaishi ate so hard with the 8-bit synthesized fantasy score, it tickles my brain so well.

I followed Neon Genesis Evangelion pretty well despite skipping a lot of episodes. The show was confusing, sure, but it posed a lot of interesting philosophical themes of self-hatred and fascinatingly illustrated biblical imagery. I even thought the ending of the original show was sweet despite its suddenness. I felt the characters deserved to learn to love themselves after the hardship they went through.

HOWEVER! The End of Evangelion movie confused the shit out of me! I thought the show was done? Does this take place after his self-love revelation in the last episode or before??? If so, why is Shinji now going insane again??? WHY DID SHINJI DO THAT IN FRONT OF ASUKA'S UNCONSCIOUS BODY IN THE HOSPITAL?????? WHY ARE A BUNCH OF ADULTS SEXUALLY HARASSING KIDS???????? (Insert defeated Shinji leaning over chair image here...) I just truly feel like I missed something here. I still don't understand what "The Promised Day" means, who Rei and her clones are in relation to Shinji's mom, why those black armored soldiers are attacking Nav HQ, or why Asuka and her Evangelion are going berserk.

I don't know... I feel like the original show put a lot of care into showing their characters' flaws, but also demonstrating that these flawed people were born from their terrible environment. Therefore, if they could accept their wrongdoings or learn to love themselves and others, they deserve to live peacefully. So is the movie trying to take back their claim or show the other side of reality? Is it saying sometimes despite bad environments, bad people don't try to change? Because End of Evangelion made a lot of their characters into suddenly shitty, violent people. It's fine to have those kinds of characters, but not so suddenly with no buildup. But that's just me, and like I mentioned, maybe I missed said buildup in the show.

At least those white, angel-like Evangelions are pretty cool design-wise. I have no idea where they came from, but I like their wings and hoverboard swords.

Continuing the Evangelion iceberg of disturbance. Level 2 reached.

Trauma

After facing battles that leave deep psychological scars on Shinji, the need for a third pilot arises. This is where Asuka Langley enters the picture, a rebellious girl who arrives from Germany as an exchange student. Her tough exterior is a defense mechanism developed to cope with her mother's mental breakdown and subsequent suicide. Determined to never cry or show weakness again, Asuka becomes fiercely independent, but emotionally unstable.

Shinji is grappling with his own inner demons. Having always been an outsider, he struggles to form meaningful connections. The psychological toll of piloting the EVA intensifies his isolation. Despite his fear and reluctance, circumstances force him to continue.

Rei, emotionally distant girl, is another puzzle piece in this complex narrative. Like Shinji and Asuka, she's searching for her identity. However, her unwavering obedience and willingness to sacrifice herself set her apart.

Their psychological wounds are only deepened by the realization that EVA is not just a machine. EVA seems to possess her own consciousness and exerts a powerful psychological influence on the pilots, especially Shinji, as if she's brainwashing them.

eps. 25 & 26

I'm saving my personal opinions for the third blog, but umm? At this point my brain started to melt. Total chaos, delusion, psychodellic badtrip, and nonsense. Honestly, if I were to watch it at the age of 14 or so- I would totally enjoy such an exquisite cinematic performance and think those who criticize it just don't get it. >_<

At this point Shinji is very sick, mentally. In my opinion, the compilation of delirium conversations/thoughts/graphics is one of the best portrayals of existential crisis, severe depression, and suicidal ideations. These last two episodes are anxiety inducing and almost put you inside of Shinji's brain, which is again very disturbing and sick.

This was my first time watching Evangelion. I was aware of it well before I watched the episodes I did, but I never got around to watching it. I do think the episodes I watched did not give me the full idea of the story, and it left me a bit confused about the world so I would recommend watching everything if you do. For this blog, I want to talk about Evangelion about masculinity.

Mecha anime in general typically focuses on performing actions of violence through using mech suits. It is this violence that is tied to hegemonic masculinity in a normative sense. Men in a traditional sense are expected in society to engage in violence when they are needed which is something that mecha anime shows often through their conflicts with deadly threats. This applies to Evangelion as we see that from episode one Shinji is called up to bat to fight off a giant monster, but he is deadly afraid and rejects his role. This goes against the willingness to engage in violence that hegemonic masculinity in men expects and leans more toward queer masculinity for Shinji. We also see that in the society of Evangelion that this queer masculinity is highly criticized. Shinji is pushed into the role and he is called a coward for denying it, his fear of stepping up to the plate makes him the subject of a lot of disrespect from the scientists, his father, and his friends. This shows that when someone engages in a lesser form of masculinity such as queer masculinity, straying from the expectations of Hegemonic masculinity then they cannot be readily accepted in society as a true contributor.

This is an interesting stray away from typical mecha main character traits. We see that in Mobile Suit Gundam Amuro is ready to jump into action, taking his father's creation and going into battle at the first sign of danger. This is in stark contrast to Shinji who avoids this responsibility and seems to let everyone who was relying on him down. This passivity is what gives Shinji a less masculine appearance and makes him so different from all other characters in the mecha genre.

I can relate to Shinji's fear of taking on that responsibility. If I was in the situation he was in, where I had to enter a mecha robot to fight a threat I would likely not readily step forward. I do not think I would consider my male status to be on the line in my decision, but I do think I would have accepted since the situation was very dire. In that way, I do think I am a mix of the hegemonic masculinity and the sissy masculinity.

"Wandering Son" (Hourou Musuko) is an anime that centers on the lives of Shuichi Nitori, a transgender girl, and Yoshino Takatsuki, a transgender boy, as they navigate the complexities of gender identity during adolescence. The story begins with Shuichi transferring to a new school where both Shuichi and Yoshino face challenges and experiences related to their gender identities.

Going back to what Judith said in the previous lesson, I see now what she meant that gender is a performance act and as soon as that is reveal to society the whole system crasher and people start marginalizing those who don’t follow the traditional gender roles. Shuichi found herself in tons of backlash wans she decided to transition, started wearing girl uniform, behaving like a girl, talking like a girl, and in general incorporating the girl gender. I also found quite hypocritical that the same reaction of disgust wasn’t shown by the school when one of the female characters decided to dress like a men, here we can see the inherent contradiction that we have as a society, we find it okay if a woman wants to dress like a man and act like a man, but as soon as a man decides to dress like a woman and act like a woman suddenly the whole system collapses.

I loved Aggretsuko. Retsuko is so cute and I love the personalities of all of her friends, especially Fenneko. If I have the time I will definitely go back and watch all of the episodes I missed.  

Aggretsuko was so relatable. I just finished up a job where I wanted to tell off my boss, but I couldn’t. It was nice to see someone who also had anxieties about standing up for themselves. Retsuko stood up for herself when it mattered, but she wasn’t a perfect protagonist like you normally see in media. I also thought her taste in music was relatable, because I’ve been told that I don’t look like I would listen to the kind of music I enjoy. 

This show did a good job of maintaining wholesomeness and humor, while also discussing themes like gender stereotypes. It is shown that Retsuko’s boss hates women, I mean the guy said those exact words. He expects them to clean off his desk, get him tea, and do other menial tasks even though they are literal accountants, not his personal assistants. At first I thought he was just a terrible boss, but as soon as I heard him say “it’s a women’s job” I was taken aback that he was also a misogynist.  

This also ties in with the readings. Like Butler discussed, gender is a performance. You can see this in Aggretsuko when watching the characters Washimi and Gori. They both put on a performance acting as strong powerful women at work so that none of the workers treat them badly. Don't get mean wrong they are super cool and confident but they really amp up their personalities at work. You can see their true personalities come out when no one is around, or when they are hanging out with Retsuko. It seems that they are way more comfortable outside of the workplace.