Holy Avenger Sailor Moon

I don’t usually check out podcasts, but ANNCast reviewed one of my all-time favorite series, From the New World (Shin Sekai Yori).

It's a post-apocalyptic, dystopian mind-screw exploring a lot of classic SF themes - free will, the needs of the state vs the needs of the individual, ESPer ethics, bioethics, what measure is a (non-)human, etc. It is especially reminiscent of Brave New World, although there are some distinct authoritarian oppression / conspiracy vibes going on.

NSFW language warning, and strangely spoiler-laden for a review, but they do a pretty good job touching on the major themes and plot points. Mostly though, they are just varying levels of blown away by this series’ awesomeness :)

From Andy Kreisberg, one of the Arrow-verse exec producers:

"[W]e consider ourselves blessed that we get to be the stewards of this leg of these heroes’ journeys. There was a Flash and a Supergirl before us and a Green Arrow before us and there’ll be a Green Arrow and a Flash and a Supergirl after us. We’re just the lucky guys who get to be in charge for this part of the journey.

We’re thrilled to invite actors who portrayed some of these classic parts or been involved to be on our shows because it is a sense of history and a sense of belonging and a sense of connection. We’re fans first and for us we’re fans of all the previous incarnations."

*This* is the difference between the Supergirl-Flash crossover and Dawn of Justice. The DC TV writer-producers (and actors, crew, etc) actually *enjoy* the work they're doing and have a lot of love for the material that comes pouring out of their work.

The story itself can be grimdark or melodramatic or chipper or pulse-pounding, but you never lose that sense that these folks genuinely like these characters/stories and want you to like them too. Hundreds of millions of dollars just can't buy that kind of effusive joy.

Yona Stage play PV - Via Anime News Network

These stage plays always look cool from the previews, but they make me weep a little b/c we (almost*) never get anything like this in the States :sadness: Yona isn’t as popular as say, Sailor Moon, but hopefully we’ll get a recording of the play in some form.

My Thoughts on Cosplay-shaming & Responsible Fandom

(In response to Misa on Wheels - although I found her post via Facebook, if I find the corresponding Tumblr post, I’ll link it here.)

One of my friends commented that Cosplay has become full of negative attitudes and criticism/elitism, much like the “bad, old days” of being a geek, and that for him, it’s leached the fun out of the hobby. Another friend commented that fear of Cosplay-shaming and 'slutification’ keeps her as a relative newcomer away from the hobby.

I enjoy Cosplay as both a fan & as a cosplayer, so I was disturbed by my friends’ takeaway from Misa’s post. I also have a long-standing interest in what I call “responsible fandom”, so this post was my response:

This is one of those things where a few loud voices in an echo chamber make you think that "everyone" is saying the same thing.

There are assholes in cosplay / cosplay-fandom just like there are assholes in every other aspect of modern life. The only difference between past and present is that social media lets (encourages?) people doing cosplay to solicit opinions from total strangers / the net-at-large, who may not be as well-mannered (or self-moderated) as say, folks you meet face-to-face at a con or cosplay meetup.

You guys are talking about 3 different "trends", none of which are as default as you might think.

First, there's the 'stripperiffic cosplay' thing, which IMO just comes from a place of business - internet burlesque models testing/using cosplay as a way to expand their market. There are garden-variety 'hot/sexy cosplayers' too, but that's folks being folks, nothing new to see there.

Second, there's this hipster-weeaboo thing where some folks think creative pursuits should all be strictly 'regulated' according to some set of rules, accuracy/precision, who is & is not allowed to do what cosplay/knitting/cooking project, etc. That's just straight-up bullying from folks who are anxious that others will see through their "mean girls" act to the quivering, insecure person beneath.

I wish more folks found the self-confidence to tell those people off, but geeks in general, and newcomers to any hobby, tend to be extra susceptible to such intimidation tactics. The only solution I see there is community-policing, and making sure folks who try that shit are 're-educated', or get the 'talk-to-the-hand' response.

And finally, as cosplay becomes more mainstream, and gets more exposure & participation (as makers or fans), it simply starts to absorb the same cues and pros/cons of other hobbies. Yeah, the news will cover the extremes, and ignore the 'regular-person' cosplay. Yes, the trolls and "armchair-cosplayers" will voice their unwanted opinions.

And yeah, people's existing insecurities and self-image/social-belonging issues will bleed over into their hobby. Cosplay doesn't actually transform you - you're still Cinderella under the fancy dress. It’s still up to you - and only you! - to decide how/whether to enjoy the ball while you're there.

Saw the two-parter pilot for Shannara, and I am suitably impressed. From the opening sequence forward, it’s clear where they put the money - everywhere, basically.

The Look

The physical effects are beautiful, even when they’re grotesque (the Dagda Mor’s head/face piercing is an impressive bit of makeup artistry). The CG is game-quality, with a lot of effort to get those realistic imperfections, like rot, lighting, smoke/fog, rust, etc. The already-started parade of demons will definitely be more interesting to look forward to than the usual Monsters of the Week (the love child of Grimm and LotR).

The costumes are freakin’ amazing, and they put serious thought into different styles & character-influenced details (clearly competing with the Emmy winners at Once and GoT). Similarly, what we’ve seen of the architecture is an insightful mix of high fantasy illustration/expectations, real-world, post-apocalyptic ‘upcycling’, and various artistic touches.

The Characters

There’s a cool juxtaposition of generations here, which I was worried about (this being MTV and all). Manu Bennett (Slade, aka Deathstroke fr Arrow) is kind of hilarious in a bad-teacher kind of way. He’s doing a good job of balancing the conflicting nature of Allannon - teacher, friend, bad-ass, “I’m too old for this shit” guy, victim of fate, forced-loner, and a bit of a dick.

One poor supporting char drew the short straw and gets to play “Concerned Holder of the Idiot Ball”, but all the principals are just as competent or woefully naive as would be reasonable.

John Rhys-Davies doesn’t get to do much as Elven King Eventine, but I feel like he’s more fleshed out than I recall from the book (it’s been a long time tho). Here he’s shown as torn between concerned family patriarch and ruthless pragmatist in defense of his people. And they have added/rearranged women’s roles that either occur later in this story, are strictly in the prehistory, or were originally referenced indirectly.

Really glad to see they’ve not used the fantasy premise to shirk on race-blind casting, and there’s a lot of real-world ethnic diversity to go along with the fantasy diversity. Eretria the Rover (read: “gypsy” rogue) is played by Latina actress Ivana Bacquero (of Pan’s Labyrinth), and Cmdr. Tilton of the Elven High Guard is played by (Black) Australian actress Emilia Burns (of Terra Nova).

The Writing

It’s been 20+ years since I read Elfstones of Shannara, and right off the bat I can see that they’ve made the major decision to include the later-revealed fact that this “fantasy world” is really our own world, in the post-apocalyptic far-future. I’m mostly cool with that, since it doesn’t really affect the characters/story, and makes for some awesome visuals.

They’ve also tweaked the bad guy (the Dagda Mor) a bit, blending his origins with other horrific figures of the Shannara-verse, nearly all of whom fall into the “do-gooder corrupted by ultimate power/evil” category. Again, that works for me, since the author (Terry Brooks) is at his best when he’s exploring that personal descent into hell that can happen when good & evil becomes Black & Grey Morality.

[For a non-Shannara/non-spoilery example of this, I especially recommend the author’s Word & Void series, starting with Running with the Demon. It was YA dark urban fantasy with Our Angels Are Different way before it was everywhere.]

In RPG terms, this is basically an Escort mission, although here they’ve made Amberle far less “stuck-up, annoying Elven Princess”, and much more “scared kid just trying to do the right thing”. In TV terms, it’s your standard Road Trip with a Chased-by-Monsters component, so there will be plenty of opportunities to explore & tease aspects of the world & its history/cultures, as well as watching the characters grow (and get their asses kicked by demons).

Some folks have complained about the use of contemporary colloquialisms instead of “obtuse high fantasy” dialogue, but I’m pretty sure that this is a purposeful choice designed to highlight the social strata - elites/royals, learned scholars, common people - and the wide generational spread. I heard one commenter make the observation that in a story about Elves, they would naturally “sound ordinary” to each other, and I thought that was just perfect. Basically the fantasy equivalent of Star Trek’s universal translator - they’re not really all speaking modern English, that’s just how we’d interpret it.

Overall

Keiko Nishi (author of Otō-san, Chibi ga Inaku Narimashita and Katsu Curry no Hi) will begin a new series titled Hatsukoi no Sekai (World of First Love) in Monthly Flowers magazine’s January 28 issue.

From ANN’s description:

The love story follows Kaoru Komatsu, a 40-year-old unmarried woman. She’s not dissatisfied with work or daily life, but something causes her to hesitate in the refrain of everyday life. The turning point is…?