JPT3702

And here we have the final post that I'm going to make for this class, and we're ending on a work that wasn't even made in the 20th century but is as contemporary as ever with the themes that it tackles. To start off, Serial Experiments Lain is unique in the sense that it has one of the most fleshed out sound designs I have seen in any anime. There's always a constant whirring in the background, creating a constant imbalance that has you begging for silence, however, when you achieve that silence you're met with scenes of intense discomfort and surreal eeriness. The sound design truly contributes to Lain's unraveling psychologically, with the utilization of characters speaking without sound and the amplification of commonplace sounds like chalk on a board, it all works in tandem to sustain the uneasy tone as we find more about the Wired and the many subsets of it. Speaking of which, for a show made in 1998, it has the most contemporary themes I've seen, with it perfectly capturing the wonder that is the internet, where despite having the entire world at your fingertips and connections everywhere, it can still isolate individuals and contribute to loneliness. Lain is a perfect main character to tackle this theme, with her introverted nature being a relatable trait that I myself can identify with, allowing me to understand her head first diving into the internet and how that obsessiveness can affect one's understanding of identity and reality. This series is just so naturally eerie, with the world being drenched in light and the almost-brutalist architecture further contributes to the anxiety this show induces in you. Even the way this anime handles social interactions are so grounded and based in reality, with discussion of tragedies like suicides being treated as less and less significant as the series progresses. In short, the questions that Serial Experiments Lain raises about technology and its relation to identity still remain relevant in modern day, with an almost prophetic understanding of how the internet and digital communication would reshape human lives through vessels like social media, virtual reality, and even more recently the discussion of artificial intelligence.

I feel like this image captures the tone of this show very well, Lain is a just a young girl who seems to be surrounded by this indescribable sense of emptiness and isolation despite having everything she could desire upon first glance. Her also putting this bear suit on is a visual representation of this lack of control and self, as she has a greater understanding of her place as a child in a world she doesn't understand.

Paprika! So this is a movie that I've been meaning to check out for a while. After I watched Perfect Blue for the first time a few years back, I looked into Satoshi Kon's other works and saw that Paprika was also quite popular so I figured I should give it a watch, but I never found the time to until now.

There are some shared themes in this movie and with Perfect Blue. The blending of reality and nonreality is quite prevalent in both films. In Perfect Blue, Mima, her stalker, and Rumi all struggle to differentiate what is real from what is fake and the dreamscapes of Paprika create a similar scenario. Paprika definitely falls more into the realm of surrealism though, parts of it actually reminded me of Alice in Wonderland.

I did enjoy the dream-like quality of this film, but there were certain points where I got confused by different characters' motivations. Like I'm not totally sure how to parse through the conflicts in the story because it felt like new information was just presented and not really explained. I guess that just makes the movie more like a dream--there's not a complete adherence to logic all the time.

Despite my last blog post, I like this anime now! The more episodes I watched, the more I liked it. I feel like these episodes were a bit more clear in what is going on. It seems like the monster rats are at war with the humans, and their ruler, or god,  is the Ogre. The Ogre was born from Maria and Mamoru, however, the monster rats took the human infant and raised it to believe it was a monster rat. It then does not have death feedback for humans, only for monster rats. The Ogre ends up dying, and Yakomaru is sentenced under punishment to eternal hell. However, Yakomaru’s words “we are human” haunt Saki, leading her to find out that the monsters are just genetically modified humans. She then finally kills him and releases him from his eternal hell. 

Arai- Wild Child; Shin Sekai no Yori EP 1, 2, 4, 12

The last assigned anime from our professor before the class choice animes will be featured next week. Also, I remembered to read the assigned reading, so I have something to talk about.

Reading "Wild Child" after watching the episodes was really eye-opening. I'm not familiar with the history of psychology (actually just history in general), so I don't know when mental health resources focusing on childhood development really became popular, but the 1990s sounds right.

Watching EP 12 in particular and connecting it with the timeline at the time and the incidents in "Wild Child" shows there have been growing concerns with violent behaviors in children. Theories to pinpoint the cause point to multiple sources, from the home, the school, the people the children find themselves with (including the above), some innate "monster" within the person, or some external source. The anime says that the spontaneous emergence led to society regressing into peaceful primitive villages (we see modern skyscrapers and the peak of collapse in 2011 Gregorian/modern year). Obviously, the children are shocked, and they refuse to believe the society they live in now is built from generations of conflicts and pain. I don't think the cause of the Cantus/PK was ever revealed, but simply that what was a rare anomaly became larger in numbers (0.3% times 7 billion = about 21 million people) before society collapsed. I think this was to show how unchecked violence in even the tiniest number can collapse society.

Weirdly enough, it is not the "good" within the people with powers but the non-powered scientists who "save" humanity. However, we see the need for stability and balance outweighs the need to solve the problem: why do the Fiends and Karma demons actually manifest? Just like "Wild Child" it's a complete mystery why child school shooters and killers do what they do. I know the first scene might be a reference to the actual murders in real life. Like Shonen A, it could be that society didn't think to check on the obvious signs. Or, maybe when it was found, no one thought to care for the person. Even the doctor who I can't tell was trying to kill the boy or treat him couldn't actually do anything and got killed. The point is, that the mystery to find out why doesn't actually lead to any solutions or action to find solutions.

And about the queerats: we don't know who or what they are, but episode 4 (I think?) confirms my theory that they are humans, or came from them. It could be an illusion, that queerats look more human than they are shown because of the unreliable perspective the human characters see them as. Or, they are altered or punished and have taken on the form we see. Or, the death feedback that the bodies undergo that typically kills the person instead changes their body to look like the queerats. They can be the missing students who have been conditioned and had their bodies changed or souls transferred so they can't rebel while still not killing them (as the people in charge I don't think can actually kill people either) and using them for the good of society. Who knows?

I'm sure there was some 10 year gap between episode 4 and 12, but seems irrelevant now. Looks like the MC (girl on far right) is becoming the Giver (reference to my past, did you get it?)

Disclaimer: I swear I did this post on time, I just accidentally posted it to my other tumblr account for my japanese language class. Proof below:

I have never been more confused by an anime ending in my entire life. Actually, any show's ending. So, I think Akira became a prince so that he could have power to make changes in Japan, yet I am confused because usually they do not have actual power? Does this mean he is actually going to be a Prime Minister? Or that he is just going to be a public figure to help change public opinion and use power that way? I also do not understand what he did with his phone and why he put it in the female lead's pocket. Overall, very confused. However, some things I have noticed:

I know I have mentioned this a million times in my posts, but again we see sexualization of women. Yes, Akira is seen literally naked multiple times, but it is always comedic; however, with the female lead in a small tracksuit and the blue haired woman in a bikini and heels, the women are either portrayed as evil or sexy. However, I will say there is a lot less than in other anime.

I am pretty confused by how the Eden of the East app (I think) is related to the title? Or like why it is the title?

The characters call Japan weak, why is why conspiracy theories on terrorist attacks arise. There are many people in this anime that believe Japan is too weak and not good enough on its own, reflecting the lack of hope and dependence NEETs or the younger generation have for/on Japan and its government. It was also sad to see the NEET with no pants on being great at hacking and CS, yet still not having a job. It makes you question: is it because he is not confident enough to get one? Or has society not allowed him to? Whose fault is it? We do see, though, him be able to send information to help stop the missiles, and he felt useful in the end. If all NEETs actually put their talents to use, or the government allowed them to, changes can be made.

Also, omg, the fact that Mr. Outsider might have already been dead was so crazy. It makes you wonder who and what the 12 people are doing all of this for. Obviously, they have their own agendas on how they will save Japan, but it was all started by and controlled by a dude that is now dead?

We also see the moral dilemma of who and what you sacrifice for the greater good. The bombs killing the NEETs of course meant people would die, but it also meant getting rid of those that do not contribute to society. Even the female lead said she wishes something good happened to Japan after the bombs, as if killing people is okay as long as there is some other benefit to it.

I have never been more confused by an anime ending in my entire life. Actually, any show's ending. So, I think Akira became a prince so that he could have power to make changes in Japan, yet I am confused because usually they do not have actual power? Does this mean he is actually going to be a Prime Minister? Or that he is just going to be a public figure to help change public opinion and use power that way? I also do not understand what he did with his phone and why he put it in the female lead's pocket. Overall, very confused. However, some things I have noticed:

I know I have mentioned this a million times in my posts, but again we see sexualization of women. Yes, Akira is seen literally naked multiple times, but it is always comedic; however, with the female lead in a small tracksuit and the blue haired woman in a bikini and heels, the women are either portrayed as evil or sexy. However, I will say there is a lot less than in other anime.

I am pretty confused by how the Eden of the East app (I think) is related to the title? Or like why it is the title?

The characters call Japan weak, why is why conspiracy theories on terrorist attacks arise. There are many people in this anime that believe Japan is too weak and not good enough on its own, reflecting the lack of hope and dependence NEETs or the younger generation have for/on Japan and its government. It was also sad to see the NEET with no pants on being great at hacking and CS, yet still not having a job. It makes you question: is it because he is not confident enough to get one? Or has society not allowed him to? Whose fault is it? We do see, though, him be able to send information to help stop the missiles, and he felt useful in the end. If all NEETs actually put their talents to use, or the government allowed them to, changes can be made.

Also, omg, the fact that Mr. Outsider might have already been dead was so crazy. It makes you wonder who and what the 12 people are doing all of this for. Obviously, they have their own agendas on how they will save Japan, but it was all started by and controlled by a dude that is now dead?

We also see the moral dilemma of who and what you sacrifice for the greater good. The bombs killing the NEETs of course meant people would die, but it also meant getting rid of those that do not contribute to society. Even the female lead said she wishes something good happened to Japan after the bombs, as if killing people is okay as long as there is some other benefit to it.

So far this anime has been a very interesting watch and even before Akira himself said it, I was getting major Jason Borne vibes with the whole "main character wakes up and has now idea who he is and has to run away from people trying to catch him" thing. I also found it so odd in episode 1 when Akira or Saki would speak Japanese to someone and they'd reply in English. I guess I like the authenticity of American in DC speaking English but realistically almost no random DC bystander would actually be able to understand Japanese just thrown a them.

The idea of Mr. Outside choosing 12 people, designating them as these "saviors" and giving them each 10 billion yen to save Japan feels very culty to me. It also seems pretty clear to me that there isn't one specific outcome Mr. Outside is looking for. So far we've only been told explicitly what the doctor did to try to improve Japan before he died. Number 11 has been briefly shown with little context and from these episodes viewers can ascertain something along the lines of Akira collected a bunch of NEETs and sent them somewhere I guess for a better life? Further all these stipulations about needing to use the money without taking too long to use it but when you do use it all the supporter kills you is confusing enough to me and I have my memory intact.

I wonder if the larger commentary this anime is trying to make is how a lot of Japan's issues are going unaddressed. NEETs, oppressive work culture, generational conflicts, those have all been addressed in someway so far. Number 11 seems a bit morally questionable but I'm curious to learn her approach to saving Japan in the next set of episodes. Also mini moment of silence for poor Saki who just wanted to make a wish in the white house fountain and got dragged into all of this.

Zipang's later episodes honesty strike me as more interesting than the former half! While those set the stage, I really got into the "onwards to our noble deaths" feel, especially as they featured an invasion on the same soil. I even noticed a same sentiment emanating from the soldiers: most of them didn't know why exactly they were there, and they didn't feel any personal passion for this project. The Japanese spirit was falling apart in real time.

The series started off with a somewhat light doubt on behalf of the main character. He had thoughts like "I want to help people", and "I don't want to kill people, but it's my job"... soon enough, it soon delved into a very anti war, and to an extent, anti Japanese militarist sentiment. I can recall the scenes discussing and arguing against the Japanese spirit and the idea of colonialism, even going as far as to paint the generals and soldiers who continued to "fight for Japan" as not only crazy, but ugly too? I mean, they didn't necessarily paint them as ugly because they were ugly- I think it was genuinely an outwards expression of their wicked souls.

ZIPANG!

This show was really interesting. I really liked the intro and the outro too.

Can I just say that the premise of this show resembles an episode of The Twilight Zone? The entire time I was watching the first and third episodes, I was thinking "Rod Sterling would probably write a premise like this". It feels like the kind of story you'd find in a novel or a short story rather than an anime, and I find that intriguing.

The show allows modern Japanese soldiers to confront their past in a literal sense, both personally through the lieutenant and also by being transported to the Showa era in the middle of the war. While we've already seen many works that deal with World War 2, this one feels so much more direct. It feels like it's not only putting Japan's nationalistic, totalitarian past on full display, but it's connecting it directly to the modern audience through modern soldiers who struggle to reconcile their motivations with that past.

Kusaka feels like he will become a driving force in the narrative. His presence alone, just like the soldier said when he first boarded, changes everything. He is what anchors them to the era; Him and all his nationalistic pride, strictness, and hope for Japan's future power. It's why he's on the cover too. He's the symbol of Japan in that era.

When they finally arrive to Singapore and they're at the party/ball(?) Kusaka says that the wants to change the 21st century (something that is already happening, as he points out later). This is after he learns of the future peace in Japan and its lack of military power and whatnot. He wants Japan to be a militaristic superpower like the empire dreams of rather than the relatively peaceful country it eventually becomes. Obviously, the modern soldiers have a contrary opinion.

So to the extent of my knowledge the whole point of this anime probably has to do with debunking stereotypes and stigmatism surrounding Otaku culture. It is apparent that the main character himself is an Otaku, however, he just so happens to be mentally unwell also. In the first episode Satou is disgusted by his neighbor who he assumes to be Otaku not recognizing that he himself is the same. His hallucinations of talking furniture and household items helps him to discover that the NHK is the reason things go wrong for him rather than his mental illness. He then blames the NHK for secluding himself for years, lack of impulse control, etc. However, the real cause of these issues for him is his mania. We further understand the extent of his mental illness due to him trying to smash a glass bottle with his hand, the state of his apartment, and his interactions with the outside world. He has moments of sanity when he expresses concern for his electricity being shut off and such, but is ultimately unwell. He is then confronted head on by his mental illness by someone distributing pamphlets in regards to folks who shut themselves in. A lot of the main characters self worth is determined by how a young girl perceives him and is a motivating factor in him making some changes which in itself is quite concerning. LMAOOO NOT HIM CHOKING HIMSELF IM DEAD. Satou's sexual fatasy about a clearly young girl is kind of alarming. But like at least this anime is spreading awareness for young viewers about the dangers of sexual abuse... right? The anime does seem to sympathize for hikikomori though... By including so many concerns into one anime it is difficult to tell the stance that the anime is taking. Like what is the concern.. Otaku, mental illness, hikikomori, pedophilia?? I honestly kind of enjoy the viewpoint, it is not something I would normally watch. I certainly don't condone anything happening in the manga but it is something i have never thought about in depth before.