Anime Reflection

Last post for this class. It’s kind of sad. This course really taught me a lot of stuff which is useful. My post is late because I am really struggled with finals this week, with seriously exam every day (Monday to Wednesday). 18 credits without no easy course are nightmare. But still glad I finally decide to take this course.

Assassination Classroom! I have to say, this is a pretty good time to watch this one because it is final week, with lots of exams. There are two key points: 1. The government expects the worst students in the school to kill "Koro-sensei", a tentacled creature with superpowers that destroyed the moon. 2. the director deliberately separated the End Class from other classes to create an opposing competitive environment. Both decisions are a kind of abandonment of the End Class. The director, as an educator, gives up the education of this class to make other classes work harder, which is very extreme. Because, at least from my perspective, no matter how much education is influenced by capitalism or anything else, teachers should always treat every student equally. For this, "Koro-sensei" does well, it tries its best to help all the students, in the End, the End Class also proves themselves, they should not be given up.

The fight between Class A and Class E began to make me think about the nature of competition. Competition can be divided into benign competition and vicious competition. Because of the influence of the director, Class A falls into vicious competition. Their efforts are not for themselves, but just to vent their inner hatred. The motivation inspired by hatred cannot last long. But Class E is not, although they work hard, in order to prove themselves, but the reason they actually work hard is for themselves, for their own future.

Love this one. I watch all 10 episodes last year. So, I just watch 1, 2, 6 and 10 this time. Final week is hard. I love cyberpunk topic, and I've seen tons of movies and novels about it. So even though I'm not a big fan of the big fight scenes, I still love this one.

Maine is like the example for David. I have to say, not only David, but most people under this absolute capitalism society don’t have their dream or lose their dream gradually. For example, in episode 6, when Maine is mostly overwhelmed by the implants, he refuses to degrade his implants, because he's come so far, he can't go backwards. But making money, improving implants and programs should never be the end goal, but he got lost. Like Maine's inner racetrack, this is just a racetrack, there is no end, no goal, no other things. David is a little bit different, because he has a goal, although the goal is from his mother and Lucy. He just doesn't have his own goal. But anyway, their efforts still couldn't get past the capital controls, so eventually they failed. As Tanaka said, whether you realize it or not, you are living under the control of capitalism.

Lucy is the only person I know who has a dream of her own. As a person who was once controlled by Arasaka when she is little, her dream is to escape the control of capitalism and "fly to the moon". However, the Moon is also only a temporary escape which actually still controlled by capitalism. It's worth emphasizing that, based on edgerunner's generous pay, I think Lucy and David would have had enough money to go to the moon a long time ago, just because they were stuck on this path, like Maine, and couldn't get out. (I'm not sure if they have enough money, but David's house in Episode 9 is really luxurious, so I think they have enough money.)

Very impressive film with lots of complex themes and the intersection of illusion and reality. So, I was a little bit confused at first. But finally, I understand. Rumi, who is Mima's manager, does not want to admit her own failure as an idol before and also Mima's failure as an idol, so she establishes the website "Mima's Room" and incites Mima's obsessive fan, Me-Mania.

There are lots of male gaze in the film. For example, after Mima agreed to involves in the rape scene, the male actor did not behave himself properly. At least at that time, I did doubt whether it was a real rape scene. The frequent appearance of the trio is what most male viewers have in mind, at least in the film. They are representatives of the audience. And the depiction of Me-Mania is too ugly in order to emphasize the audience's bad feelings towards him so that the subsequent plot can be smooth.

Mirrors are also an interesting prop in film. Mima see Idol Mima in the mirror when she gradually collapses and disbelieve herself; When Idol Mima tries to kill her, mirror turns out that Idol Mima is actually played by Rumi; she mirrors as herself when she is just Mima. And the mirror is also a hint of Mima's Room, because the principle of the mirror is reflection, reflecting the same world (or similar). The Mima's Room that Rumi imitates is just like mirror, but still have some dissonance, because this is Idol Mima's room, such as the posters that have been put away and the fish which already died before.

Well, even though I knew it was a work of right-wing before I read it, I still felt a little uncomfortable. It's ironic from a comic point of view. But as I said about Hetalia, Sensoron should not take what is said seriously. If taken seriously, it is problematic. Therefore, it is not a work suitable for general audiences, especially children.

Sensoron advocates anti-Americanism, arguing that Japan did the right thing for the war, and that young people now repenting for the SINS laid down by Japan are being brainwashed by the West. It also claims that the Nanjing Massacre did not actually exist, but was politically instigated by China and the West by creating fake photos. Finally, it says that the allegations of wartime rape of women are not valid because the women consented for money or something else.

The whole story seems to me more like sophistry, trying to lead the audience into an inherently wrong logic, and avoiding all evidence that would affect this wrong logic, to convince the audience that Japan is innocent and a victim of war. These charges are very subjective, for example, in the case of allegations about the authenticity of photos, it focuses on a small number of photographs that are in doubt and ignores a large number of others. It may be true that Japan was not the only guilty party in the war, but it was not innocent. It is totally unreasonable to disprove Japan's innocence with a few questionable photos. It is true that photo does not necessarily depict ‘objectively reality’, but it is also true that some photos tell us truth.

Well, although it is very popular after, but for some reason I haven't been able to watch Your name. It’s nice to have the chance to watch it this time. The themes are the contrast between tradition and urbanization, and the meaning of time and traditional culture.

I love the idea of swapping souls, especially since there's a lot of flashback in the film, which brings up a lot of questions and then unravels them. I can say that I was attentive throughout the film. At the same time, the soul exchange was not without warning, Miyamizu's grandmother would have been aware of the process and Miyamizu’s dream is to become a boy live in Tokyo. This may be the Mitsuha family's ability, and both her grandmother and mother didn't get what they wanted through the process, or forgot about it altogether. But Miyamizu is different, because of her hard work and Taki's hard work, she finally saved the village and met Taki again. I was impressed that when Miyamizu and Taki met at dusk, they decided to write each other's names. But Taki wrote "I love you" to Miyamizu instead of his name.

Well, first, this is the first time I've seen Hetalia. I know it's popular. That's all I know. It's surprising, though, that after watching 1-19episodes, I realized how often it's been in my life. Indeed, it represents almost all national anthropomorphism, and a great deal of fandom has been generated from it. From a pure entertainment point of view, Heritalia is funny, as much as I can laugh. But there are always some points that make me feel uncomfortable while laughing.

First, the stereotype. All countries are concentrated to one person, which is too one-sided. The stereotypes of countries, like France with its beautiful clothes and America with its love of hamburgers, are a little too strong. I find it amusing to see other countries portrayed in such a one-sided way that they even fit into the meme I know. But when my own country is portrayed in a one-sided way, I feel sad and even a little angry. This is a feeling you can only understand if you are familiar with the history of your own country, which is ironic.

Secondly, all countries are depicted as pretty boys, which is the image the audience will give most sympathy to. Even if, perhaps, no country is innocent in war in reality. In episodes 1-19, it was hard to see women. This may be based on the consideration of audience, but it is a little too idealistic. War is always painful, no one has the right to glorify war!

Finally, Hetalia's preference for certain countries makes me a little uncomfortable. It's not obvious, it's subtle. Even though it seems to be treating every country fairly, the audience's likes and dislikes are clear. After watching, viewers are sure to feel extra affection for several of the countries.

Nintendo game! Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It's famous, even if I haven't had a chance to play it yet (splatoon3 is so fun that I spend most of my Switch time on it, strongly recommend). But if I have the time, Persona 5 and the Xenoblade Chronicles series are next on my list.

Well, it's a big worldview. I think we watched the main plot on the game? It's a little scattered, a little messy, and the main sets and concepts are coming out separately. Also, it is a standard way to make Japanese game, but not anime. So, for me, it is a little bit strange. It is a standard way to make game, but not for anime. So, for me, it is a little bit strange.

Environmental protection is a very important theme here. One of the things that's special in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is that everyone lives in the clouds, they live by Titans. This meant that life was very challenging when more and more Titans die out. And Rex's dream is to retrieve the "world tree" that exists in the center of Alrest in a paradise called Elysium and let people live on the mainland again. In the end, the goal of reliving people on the continent was achieved, at the cost of two natural sacrifices. Human life often seems to come at the expense of nature, a bit like parasites, a bit ironic.

This is my first anime convention in US. It was a good experience. It reminded me of Anime Impulse in San Diego that I didn't have the opportunity to visit during spring break (because I couldn't get a meet-and-greet ticket). I hope there will be more opportunities to participate in similar activities in the future.

Then, I want to talk about my experience. I spent a whole day on Saturday and half a day on Sunday. There is too much fun. This resulted in me staying late in the library for days the whole weekdays (the price of not studying on weekends).

First, about costumes. In my dorm room, I don't have any costumes, not even wigs. So, I chose to wear just one SPYxFamily T-shirt and put a few decorations on my backpack. This also led to an awkward lunch experience, which I'll talk about later.

Volunteer

For volunteer, I participated in the volunteer activity for a total of 4 hours. Saturday was registration for the one-hour opening. It was a great experience to see many, many cosplayers. I saw a lot of beautiful props. What impressed me most was a girl's self-made chainsaw. It was very beautiful. I was on panel duty for 3 hours on Saturday, which was also very interesting.

Pokémon Trainers Unite

I'm a Nintendo fan, but I'm not a Pokémon fan, so I just have a generalized idea of Pokémon. I heard some interesting questions about Pokémon. The Pokémon themed cars are so cool.

After that, I went out to lunch, which was a little awkward because I wasn't exactly dressed up as Otaku, but I wasn't exactly normal either. I was kind of separate from these two groups and didn't belong to either. However, it is great to see so many beautiful cosplayers in Reitz. Aside from the cosplayer, the Swampcon atmosphere outside the event room is actually not a lot, hopefully next year there will be an opportunity to add more Swampcon decorations, such as a poster outside the gate.

Idol Fest (My favorite part)

I have to say, this is one of my favorite parts. I saw a lot of characters that I knew, even liked, or didn't know very well, and some of idol's personal stage. It's so nice to have a lot of people cheering together. I was actually a little bit angry at the beginning of the stage, because the second show stage. A vtuber who graduated because of a personal problem just doesn't exist anymore. Even his cosplay shouldn't exist. But he still performed on stage, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. But everything else is good. I especially liked F4TE's performance, their choreography was really cute and totally in line with the scene of the original song, which is very similar to the scene in the anime.

Then came the Artist Gallery and Vendor Hall. I didn't buy anything at Vendor Hall, but it was quite surprising to see the goods of Disney Twisted-, because this game is probably not famous in the United States. But I did a lot of shopping at the Artist Gallery and fell completely into Otaku  consumer habits. First, I buy a poster of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

This is my favorite anime last year. But because it was based on a game, it didn't seem to catch on. It's nice to see it at an artist's stand. Other than that, I was impressed by an animal crossing sticker. Since it's a Nintendo game from a few years ago, I didn't expect to see it here. Below is all my purchases.

I also attended a panel on Sunday, with the topic of Beyond Anime and Manga: History of Japanese Literature. Due to my volunteer schedule, I failed to participate in the ensemble star activity, but my friend took a picture for me, which was also fun.

Love Miyazaki's film forever. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind focuses on the environment and discusses one potential future of human if we continue to destroy the environment. This seems to be a warning to human that the earth is capable of recovr, and when humans destroy the earth's environment too much, the earth will spontaneously begin to clean up, in whatever way humans think is a disaster. It is important to be aware of the damage humans did to the environment. Just as the toxic jungle exists to purify the environment, miasma also causes harm to humans. We need to see nature in a way that we looks up, instead of look down, as Nausicaa has done. That's why Miyazaki created the huge toxic jungle, a giant spore forest that stands in stark contrast to a tiny human.

The power dynamic in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is also interesting, and the Valley of the Wind is undoubtedly at the bottom. The Valley of the Wind is a harmonious, simple country. Pejite is on the higher level because it is an industrialized country (even if it has been destroyed). Tolmekian is higher up because they have absolute military power as well as Giant Warrior. But at the top are Ohms, the giant insects that can live in the Toxic Jungle. Nausicaa believes that humans can live in harmony with Toxic Jungle and Ohms; Others, convinced that human beings cannot coexist with Ohms, want to burn the Toxic Jungle. The Giant Warrior represents man's unending desire and absolute force. The final demise of the Giant Warrior indicates that force cannot solve all these problems.