The Anim(e)ted World

The only word I can describe this movie as is bone chilling. I’m honestly still in shock and don’t really know what to think about it. A few things that I identified as important is the performative gender acts that were highlighted, the pressures on celebrities, and of course capitalism!

In reference to performative acts, I think the way in which people perform their gender is underlined in this film. The idea of a pop idol in a way sets the benchmark for how young females should perform their gender. It seems that mima was in a way tired of this which gives reason to why she moved to change her image. This becomes more obvious when her apparition tells her that she filthied her as a pure idol. This leads me into the idea of purity and how it may negatively affect mima. I think that a lot of the psychological damage that she incurred was due to this idea of purity and how deeply it was ingrained in her. As a woman and as an idol especially she had to perform this role of purity to perfection. It seems that a sudden change from this had heavily affected her psyche. 

Another important topic that this anime delves into is the pressures that celebrities and those in the public eye have. Many have to live lives without the privacy that most of us have. Thousands of people depend on them to produce so that their fans can consume. I cannot even imagine the pressure thousands of people can put on a person. In addition, these celebrities must continually act in the face of the public. They have to perform a role that their fans enjoy.

Finally, I think some messages about capitalism and consumerism can also be drawn. Even as murders were going on, the film continued to be made. The pull of consumers and capital was so strong that individual lives became less important. It was truly clear that everybody was  a cog in the capitalist machine, and if one broke it would be immediately replaced without second thought. A sad but true thought.

Death Parade tells a very deep and moving story despite its very cheerful opening song. It’s been a while since I first watching it, but after rewatching it I think I can better appreciate some of the themes of morality and emotion that it delivers.

One of the things that Death Parade really got me to think about is how humans should be judged. There’s not really any moral basis for what is good or bad despite what humans themselves have decided. That’s why the arbiters purposefully lacking human emotion does seem to be a flaw. Decim made a mistake in the first episode when he failed to consider Machiko’s emotions in the first episode. Machiko’s outburst was likely an act, but because Decim took her words at face value, he decided to send her to the void instead of Takashi. I don’t think there’s necessarily a right or wrong answer on where each person is sentenced to go in Death Parade. Having only two choices only restricts the range of human action and emotion into only a black and white choice when the truth is always much more gray. In episode 9, it’s assumed that both participants were sent to the void, but both followed their own standards of morality through their murders. 

Because Violet Evergarden was on my list to watch, I binged the series. I really didn’t know what to expect, only from people who said “ the feels”, and yes, there were the feels. 

Since I watched the whole series, I found different themes then the ones that were presented in the select episodes we were assigned. However, for the episodes that were chosen, the main idea was presented on how people react to the lost of their loves. For episode 9, we learn that Major Gilbert was someone who Violet treasured dearly  (and if you watched the whole series, you realize how dependent she was to him) that was missing in action after the war. In episode 10, we follow the story of a young girl who is about to lose her mother. Her mother, knowing her end is near, hires Violet to write letters to her daughter for the next 50 years of her life, showing that she is still with her. In the OVA, we follow an opera singer who lost her lover and the conductor who lost his son in the war. The opera singer is obsessed with presenting the perfect song to convey her feelings bout the matter, as she wants to touch many hearts who have suffered the same situation due to the terrible war. The theme that I got, as cliche as it is, is that the people who you lost will still forever be in your heart. As in episode 9, Violet comes to peace when she talks to Gilbert’s mother and the both say “ Gilbert will always be in our hearts”. In episode 10, the message is conveyed through the letters that the daughter will receive for the next 50 years. Even though her mother has passed away, her letters show how precious her daughter is and thinking of her future, resulting in the daughter not feeling as lonely as she thought she would be. Lastly, in the OVA, the song lyrics really conveyed how even though you may have passed away, “Love is always”. Even though all us may not have experienced a love one pass away, all of us will experience sooner or later because we are humans. Regardless of the circumstances, grieving for our loved ones and moving on is a very difficult and emotional time, and I think this Violet Evergarden presented this topic in a delicate and beautiful way. 

I don’t read much manga, but Sensoron’s arguments and content is not something I would have expected from this type of medium. Furthermore, I did not expect this level of conservatism in Sensoron, even after hearing it would be “conservative”. The content in Sensoron seems to paint an extremely strong argument for Japan’s innocence.

While reading Sensoron, I couldn’t really grasp whether Kobayashi was being satirical with his writing or not. The fictional examples and stories he made lead me to believe that his arguments were satirizing Japan’s innocence and involvement in violence and war; however, Kobayashi’s repeated examples of “framed Japan” makes me think that his arguments were legitimate and it is what he truly believes. That’s not to say the Japanese didn’t commit war crimes; however, the misinformation and information manipulation obviously present in the text are morally wrong in my opinion. Everyone is at fault in some manner and I don’t have the capacity to validate any claims made within the manga or by any information I’ve received in the past.

As a Chinese-American, this text is really confusing for me. Both my Chinese background and American background tell me that Japan is terrible (my parents still don’t like the Japanese) and that we were not at fault for much during wartime. Furthermore, American schooling has always taught us that Japan became a pacifist nation and a great democracy as a result of the United States. The content of Sensoron obviously goes against all these teachings and beliefs of mine. I also read some of the responses from our classmates that have Asian backgrounds regarding Sensoron. Not surprisingly, there were some rather strong positions on the portrayal of Japan’s innocence. At this point, I personally don’t know what to think of the situation. For example, the Rape of Nanjing was obviously an atrocity on Japan’s part; however, the death toll is hotly debated. Is it 300,000+ as reported by the Chinese? Is it 60,000 as reported by Kobayashi? There is so much information that I can’t confirm; because of this, I’ve basically chosen to simply take in the information without deriving a conclusion. While the actions of the Japanese are unforgivable, the world is different now; America doesn’t hate Germany for its actions in the past, so why should Japan be any different?

Your Name is a movie that received a stellar reception on its release, and is often lauded for it’s beautiful art and animation, as well as the atmospheric soundtrack that seems to amplify every emotional moment experienced. The movie contrasts two relatively different ways of living and the individuals that live in these environments; as well as the supernatural connection they share.

Watching Hetalia Axis Powers really threw me back to middle school where it was the only show I watched for over a month (yikes). It is different watching it now and watching it back when I was 12-13 because I did not know much about world history. I took a lot of history classes in high school so I actually knew what was happening in each episode this time around. Something I picked up on in the show, that I did not notice years ago, was there are many stereotypes for each country. In Annett’s “World Conflict”, she states that the anime makes fun of stereotypes, but does not dismiss them because the characters only play the stereotype. Hetalia Axis Powers is seen controversial because of this reason where hurtful stereotypes are presented and insists that it is true. The anime sets up bad examples of how some people view those of different nationalities and/or ethnicities. Hetalia being a popular anime means almost everyone has access to it and watching it puts a horrible influence on those who are easily susceptible to believing that people from other countries literally act like that. It carries into people making racist and prejudiced comments.

“The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.”

—John Paul II

Warning there might be some spoilers for Chronicles of Xenoblade 2. You have been warned.

In chronological order, I’ll begin with the discussion about the definition of the Otaku. There were many different definitions given. One is an extreme fan, another is just an anime lover. Some don’t like to be called Otaku and some think it is open to be repossessed as a positive term. We learned that in Japan Otaku is a negative term, however, like other derogatory terms, it has been repossessed by some of the people within the subculture. In this movie, I saw some stereotypes of an otaku that we looked at in class. In Genshiken, we discussed madame’s character and how he cuts down on living expenses in order to consume more fan goods. In this documentary, there is a similar interviewee who cuts down on food in order to buy more goods at the convention. I can definitely relate to this because that’s exactly what I did when I went to an anime convention! There is so much to buy, and with a budget, something has got to give! The specific definition of an otaku that we discussed was the definition by Saito. He said the Otaku is the extreme fan who is productive in possessing the hyperreal through the creation of simulacra. This definition is highly applicable to this documentary especially considering its focus on cosplay.

The second part of the movie focused on cosplay from production to practice. Many of the interviewees confirmed their desire to represent characters from their favorite shows through cosplay. This cosplay is the simulacra that Saito was referring to, and it is used to possess the works of fiction that they enjoy so much. There was a focus on one specific cosplayer, and she exemplified very well the productivity of the otaku referred to by Saito. I had always been intrigued by the process which was one of the reasons I liked the content of this movie. Personally, it made me nostalgic about my experiences going to anime conventions and my experience cosplaying. 

Other than cosplay, another topic that I wanted to talk about was the cross-cultural similarities and differences between Otakus in America and Japan. Less so nowadays, but people who are very passionate about anime are often dismissed as weird. Based on this movie, I think many otakus go to conventions to feel that they belong. This makes sense to me because for my first experience at a convention I felt very comfortable and at home. I also feel like this feeling is universal for all Otaku based on the anime Genshiken and this movie. A possible difference that I noticed was the inclusion of American cartoons in the fandom. I saw toothless from how to train your dragon as a cosplay. In addition, an interviewee explained that her sons were dressed up as characters from cartoon network. I found this interesting as it shows differences among Otakus across cultures even though it all stems from Japan.

Something that I didn’t see was fan discrimination which is something we spoke about in class. To be honest I noticed a lot of acceptance from fans. One interviewee stated that even costumes that aren’t as detailed are welcomed as a part of the community. This could be because maybe the otaku culture isn’t as large in America so Otaku’s are happier to accept anybody in America rather than in Japan. There was also talk about shadow cultural capital in the movie. One of the interviewees said that having more knowledge can translate to social status with the “inner circle.” This is very similar to our discussion of shadow capital. 

I think the most obvious lesson we can learn from Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is that humans are the main cause of nature’s disruption. From the onset, the movie portrays the Sea of Decay, a spreading uninhabitable area where deadly toxic vapors pose an existential threat to humans. We see two different approaches to this issue. On one hand, Nausicaä seeks to understand the causes and origins of the Sea of Decay. She sets up a lab containing plants from the Sea of Decay in order to understand the region better. Through her observations, Nausicaä realizes human pollution is the main cause of toxins. On the other hand, Kushana and the Tolmekian nation seeks to destroy the Sea of Decay through firepower even though such a method likely contributes to more pollution. After escaping into the Sea of Decay with Nausicaä, Kushana’s reaction to her surroundings is evidence that she does not understand the issue she is dealing with.