Peter M.

Watching this module's viewings back-to-back was a wild ride. Going from Hetalia to Your Name and then to Sensōron really made me think about how differently the idea of a nation can be portrayed. It’s wild how pop culture can shape our understanding of history and who we are, whether it's done through comedy, romance, or straight-up propaganda.

Hetalia was a fascinating, if uncomfortable, one to start with. I have to admit, I found myself laughing at some of the jokes, but it's a complicated feeling. It takes these huge, complex countries and turns them into cute, moe characters in often homoerotic situations. The lecture and readings pointed out that this is perfect content for a fujoshi fanbase, but it’s a double-edged sword. It walks this fine line between making fun of national stereotypes and just reinforcing them. The controversy it caused in South Korea was a good reminder that these jokes don't just exist in a bubble; they can be really painful when they touch on real historical trauma. It made me think about how my own country’s history gets simplified in movies and TV shows, and Hetalia definitely made me more aware of that tendency in myself. Then I watched Your Name, and I was just completely swept away by the story and the animation. It's so beautiful. That’s why it was so eye-opening when the lecture talked about it being a conservative film that fits into the whole kizuna (or bonds) conversation that was happening in Japan after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The movie's whole emotional core is about preserving tradition and memory in the face of disaster. I found that message incredibly moving, since the tension between big cities and fading small towns is something I see all the time. The film makes a strong case for holding onto those connections, suggesting that real meaning comes from tradition and community, not modern tech. I really resonated with its hopeful message, even after understanding its more conservative side. Finally, Sensōron was the most direct and, honestly, the most disturbing viewing for me. Reading it felt like being inside a propaganda machine. The lecture was super helpful in breaking down exactly how it works, pointing out the visual tricks—like drawing political opponents with goofy, exaggerated faces to make them seem hysterical, or cherry-picking a few faked war photos to try and discredit the entire Nanking Massacre. I could feel how persuasive those techniques were, even knowing the context beforehand. It made me think of what we read from Gellner, about how nationalism needs a single, unifying story to hold a society together. Sensōron is just a raw attempt to write that cleaner history for Japan. Reading it was a powerful, uncomfortable lesson in how easily a narrative can be manipulated, and it's a battle over memory that I recognize is being fought all over the world today. It made me think about how vulnerable we all are to these kinds of narratives, especially when they're packaged so effectively. Looking at all three together, it's just so clear how powerfully—and dangerously—pop culture can shape the "imagined communities" we call nations.

I really enjoyed the grand, sweeping narrative of Nausicaä and the epic video game saga of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, finding both to be powerful and distinct storytelling experiences. The former follows a princess seeking peace in a post-apocalyptic world by trying to understand a toxic jungle that is slowly healing the planet , while the latter chronicles a young salvager's quest across a sea of clouds to find a mythical paradise and save a humanity living on the backs of giant, dying creatures. Reflecting on Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 reveals two distinct approaches to environmentalism.

I saw that Nausicaä feels like classic eco-fiction, presenting a world where humanity's past mistakes have left nature as the sole force for healing. The vast, toxic Sea of Decay and the giant, sentient Ohm embody a powerful, almost spiritual, natural world reacting against human corruption. This film strongly suggests that humans are the problem, a destructive force whose only recourse is to step aside and allow nature to recover on its own. Nausicaä herself doesn't restore the environment; she merely prevents further human interference, reinforcing a sense of helplessness and aligning with the concept of a nature versus humanity. The approach in the anime seems to me to try to show that the best thing humans can do for the environment is to leave ecologies their own space to grow. The anime especially reflects the philosophy of deep ecology (Robert Schalkenbach). The problem of this idea is that by making the problem so immense and leaving its solution entirely in nature's hands, it takes away the idea that we can also help in this balance. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 offers a refreshing counter-narrative that I feel is better. In its world, the environmental catastrophe was so absolute that nature could not self-heal. The restoration of both the ecosystem and humanity is intertwined and dependent on human ingenuity and technology. The Cloud Sea, composed of nanomachines, and the Titans, which birth new life, shows a system where human artifice is essential for nature's revival (and something the lectures agree with as well). This perspective challenges the notion that humanity is only a destructive force, suggesting instead that our intelligence can be integral to the solution and can actually help nature. I personally resonate with this idea as we can do many things to help nature like recycling and reducing exploitation of nature for greed, though I can also relate to Nausicaä as sometimes its best to let nature do its own healing by keeping humans apart from it to prevent interference. The intelligence of nature also differs dramatically between the two. In Nausicaä, the Ohm possess a primal, protective intelligence, guarding their sacred, untouched lands from human interference. In Xenoblade, nature’s intelligence is engineered and restorative, designed to actively rebuild and collaborate with humanity.

In the end, both stories provide unique perspectives on our relationship with the planet. Nausicaä portrays a world where humans and nature coexist, but nature holds the ultimate power to heal. Xenoblade 2, however, presents a more integrated and arguably more relevant vision for our time. It suggests a future where humanity must actively participate in environmental restoration, using our unique capabilities to heal the world we inhabit, instead of exploiting it. This message of active coexistence and technological stewardship feels particularly hopeful and resonates with this day and age.

In 2023, my friend invited me to PolyCon, a fandom and geek culture convention held by the Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. This would be my first experience going to a fandom related convention. We took our close-knit group of friends and walked around campus to see the various of stalls and activities the university set up around campus. I only ever saw pictures of anything con-related online, so I was surprised to see the sheer amount of people cosplaying in the hot summer sun. People were dressed as up various of characters, from Yoshi to Final Fantasy’s Cloud and Tifa, to Hatsune Miku. You could see the love people had for Japanese pop media. There were lots of costumes that I did not recognize either, which made me think that conventions like PolyCon are great opportunities for young people to meet fellow fans from a small niche since finding people that love the same piece of media you love can be very difficult. 

The campus itself was huge, containing a giant central building that is very designed uniquely, with many people saying it looks like a space ship. This central building was where we entered first to get wristbands for admission. After the admission table, we went down the hall, which circles around the whole building and back to the admission table. The hallway was filled with attendants, stalls with foldable tables that presented tons of fan goods, artwork, merchandise, and anything under the sun pertaining to fandoms. There was a table with Chainsaw Man artwork that my friend quickly went to, being a big fan of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s work. He bought two posters of Makima, a main character from the manga, since he was so attracted to her that he even put Makima as his Discord profile picture.  

Every classroom in the hallway had more booths displaying goods from different fandoms and media. Western media was also popular, with the big ones being Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. There was an entire room for Star Wars fans that displayed light sabers, large Star Wars Lego sets, helmets and costumes from characters like Darth Vader and Boba Fett, and a working BB-8 droid. Each room was packed with fans carrying lots of bags and posters in one arm, while scanning for goods with the other. Many people talked passionately about what their favorite character or scene was, their grievances with the new sequel, how the fanbase has changed, and other intricate pop culture topics. Fans from the Star Wars booth staged a light saber fight with costumes, spinning 360 degrees to strike or blocking and evading attacks.  

In Sailor Moon, I feel like this anime strongly connects to third wave feminism ideas. For instance, Usagi makes it known that everyone knows her as a crybaby and how she is even calls herself emotional. Yet, one of her “flaws” becomes a strength when she is transformed as Sailor Moon and uses her cries as a weapon against the forces of evil. Additionally, while there are boy saviors, the real heroes of the story are women displaying a resistance to patriarchal oppression over women. 

I also wanted to point out something I saw in Aggretsuko that I thought was interesting. I thought that the anime style was extremely unique from what we have been watching in this class. I personally thought that this anime style reflects one of the strategies of resisting the patriarchy: changing the value of femininity. For example, I found that the style reflected a cuter and innocent nature which is stereotypically what women are portrayed as. However, when the any character expressed strong emotions the style of their faces became “ugly”. These “ugly” expressions allow for the viewer to understand the duality of femininity, meaning that while those who are feminine can be perceived as cute and innocent, they can also be more masculine and that is completely acceptable. Yet, within the anime, it is depicted that Retsuko’s more masculine traits of stubbornness and rage tend to lead her into trouble. In my opinion, I feel like this anime is reflecting values seen in both the second and third wave of feminism. 

I thought that was very clever for you to point out there although there was a boy hero but sailor moon uses one of her flaws to show resilience.

I also agree with your thoughts on Aggretsuko. It is clearly shown in the anime that there is almost masculinity inside but masked with femininity in Retsuko. There are momemnts where it might "slip" like when she talked to Anai. I find it interesting how these masculine traits are the ones that her into trouble but also benefit everyone in some ways. An example is when she told the director about the boss and then he changed to being super sweet. It lasted for a while but towards the ending of the anime, he became more cold.

I think Genshiken is an anime that effectively showcases the complexities of otaku culture and fandoms in a way that feels honest and relatable. The characters were written fairly realistically, especially Sasahara, Kousaka, and Saki, with people who find meaning, identity, and friendship through their shared passions for anime, manga, and games.

One thing I liked the most about Genshiken was that it tried to not undersale yet still not exaggerate otaku culture too much. Instead, it portrayed it with a mix of humor and awkwardness that were more accurate depictions of the dynamics of the culture. The club members aren't overtly portrayed as insecure and shy, but unique in each of their characters and having the ability to be confident. For example, Kousaka is portrayed as thinking his hobbies are embarrassing, while his group members have no shame in liking anime, figurines, etc. When Kousaka introduced Sasahara into his room, the room is shown to be full of manga, anime, video games, and figurines that Sasahara has lying around everywhere, showing that he doesn't fear showing his hobby to others.

Genshiken also shows fandoms as an important social space. I realized how much of my identity is shaped by the communities I’ve been part of. The series explores how fandom isn’t just about consuming media; it’s about how people relate to each other through that media. Watching characters like Sasahara or Madarame grow more confident through the support of their group made me appreciate how valuable it is to find people who “get” you.

This week's anime are ones I particularly enjoyed, as they all touched on ideas that face the children of today’s generation in both Japan and globally. The feeling of isolation and an alienation from society is something far too common as children grow up. Each anime takes a unique approach in representing certain ideas and emotions that a child could go through when faced with alienation from society. 

Naruto showed the issue where a child feels as though they can not be who they are but need to change in order to be accepted, to prove to society. I feel this is reminiscent of today’s teenagers where children need to change how they look or act at such a young age in order to fit in. The gaman ganbaru idea within Naruto could be seen as another representation of a child’s long struggle growing up and attempts to fit into their school’s environment, not as trials and tribulations as Naruto did but instead just the struggle of growing and maturing. 

Wolf Children is reflective of people with more than just one background, such as immigrants or multi-racial people. Children who grow up with multiple identities are pushed to accept one more than the other, depending on their environment. I feel as though this is representative in how there is the concept of being ‘whitewashed’ where some people are shamed for choosing one identity over the other. Wolf Children used a unique approach to represent the ‘either-or’ mindset that society tends to be.

Words can’t begin to describe how I felt after watching Shin Sekai Yori. The anime reminded me of one of my favorite films, Final Destination. The setting of the world is interesting, with psychic powers and weird rat creatures. I’m especially interested in the background of the world. The discovery of psychic abilities in only an insignificant percentage of the population led to the collapse of modern society. You can kinda draw parallels to society, how technology that aims to help end conflicts also has the downside of being able to cause more conflict. If you gave only 20 people in the whole world a button to launch a nuclear weapon, let me just say that everyone would not be living happily ever after. Think of a skyscraper; the higher you build, the easier it is for it to come crumbling down, and the more destruction it will leave in its wake. I love how they addressed the issue of psychic abilities in the anime, with eugenics and positive vibes. This only works up to a certain point, and the anime explores that. 

In the anime, Asahina tells a story of a boy who snapped and used his power to massacre his teacher and classmates. The result of this event, more eugenics! This ties into the concept of the fear of the “Wild Child”, and this fear spreads to become an overall fear of children. A real-world example would be Columbine. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris would perform a deadly massacre in their high school, making news headlines everywhere. Another example, in a way, is 9/11, where terrorists hijacked planes and used them in an attack. Both these events became huge events and were publicized heavily. Both led to a slew of regulations to prevent these from happening again. There was never another 9/11 (or at least as deadly), but the same can’t be said for Columbine. Why? Well, 9/11 was meticulously planned, requiring multiple people learning how to fly a plane and be willing to give up their lives. With regulations, this is impossible to replicate. Columbine, in a way, was also meticulously planned, but their plan didn’t even fully work. All it takes to replicate Columbine is an idea and a firearm. The issue isn’t just firearms; if we ban them, children will find other ways to do harm. The problem is the idea, caused by the media publicity of Columbine. Look at almost any modern school shooting; a majority of those who do such attacks cite Columbine as an inspiration. We have created pseudo-celebrities out of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, to the point where I know their names from memory. We are continuing this cycle by heavily publicizing these events, which is both giving ideas to youth and creating a fear around them. The problem is a double-edged sword; if you don’t publicize these events, we can never learn from them. If we do, however, we show the youth a blueprint on how to replicate it. There will always be a first; things like these will inevitably happen at one point. In the anime, not much could have been done to stop the boy from murdering his teacher and classmates. In Japan, not much could have been done to stop Shonen A from killing another kid. However, showing the world that these things can be done by your average Joe will just inspire more people to replicate them. This anime has nothing to do directly with the publicity of terrible events, but it hints at the problem of this fear of children and the solution of increased regulation not working out perfectly.

Anyway, there were other themes like the queerats being emblematic of a race of people used as scapegoats, or eugenics, probably being a bit too cruel. I didn’t have much to say on these themes. Yeah, using a race as a punching bag to create pride in your race is bad. And eugenics is cruel, although punishing Yakomaru with eternal torture is probably worse. But overall cool anime.

Watching Psycho-Pass was a gripping and unsettling experience for me. What struck me most was how the anime explores the tension between safety and freedom in a society where the Sibyl System monitors and controls nearly every aspect of life. The show’s world feels chillingly plausible, especially as technology advances in our own lives. Seeing characters accept Sibyl’s judgments without question made me reflect on how easily people can become numb to surveillance and control when it’s justified as being for the greater good.

Personally, I found myself relating this to the ways we’re already scored and sorted in real life—whether it’s through credit ratings, social media algorithms, or even job application filters. The idea that a system could decide your opportunities or even your worth based on data, rather than your actual character, is both familiar and disturbing. It made me question how much of my own behavior is influenced by the possibility of being watched or judged, even if it’s just by algorithms.

Connecting this to the lecture material, I see how Psycho-Pass is a powerful illustration of Michel Foucault’s concept of panopticism. The Sibyl System is essentially a digital panopticon: it creates a society where people internalize discipline because they know they’re always being observed, even if they can’t see their observers. The lectures discussed how Foucault believed this kind of surveillance leads people to police themselves, making external punishment almost unnecessary. In the anime, this is taken to an extreme—Sibyl not only watches but also predicts and preempts crime, stripping people of agency and authentic selfhood. The show demonstrates how a system designed with utopian intentions can actually create a dystopia by removing individuality, freedom, and the capacity for resistance.

For me, Psycho-Pass isn’t just a warning about technology or government overreach—it’s a challenge to think critically about the systems we accept in our own lives, and whether they truly serve us or simply make us easier to manage.