So I just finished Carole & Tuesday
And I have a lot of mixed feelings.
Here is a nonsensical rant
And also, is this the first season of many or the only season?
On the one hand, we have multiple characters who are poc and are represented respectfully. One of the main characters is a black woman, with complex feelings and depth and all that good stuff. That by itself is a huge step for anime, and it's one of the things that drew me in.
However, there were some side characters who were poc that, frankly, were a little disturbing? There was a character in the prelim auditions who was dancing and singing obnoxiously who just kind of seemed like a black lady caricature to me. I liked the Mermaid sisters at first, I thought that they were fun drag queens until they were weirdly aggressive. I was excited for nonbinary drag queen representation that seemed pretty positive and comedic (that song is 👌) , but then that aggression happened at the end and... Seems like that angry-black-lady stereotype. I just want to forget those five seconds happened.
Carole and Tuesday are such natural feeling characters, so cutely animated, that they almost felt out of place in their own anime filled with explosive caricature personalities. I think that that's intentional commentary on the world of showbiz. It was natural talent and uncommercialized music vs AI-designed, fabricated, showy music, except I'm not sure who the winner was.
The main female characters, including Angela, the antagonist, are also great. They're unique and they don't go over the top in their own syereotypes--Angela being a bratty idol, Carole a tough kid who knows the street, Tuesday a naive rich girl. They're complex, they don't always act how you expect. They aren't typical anime girls, and it's refreshing. My feminist sides were quite tickled.
Unfortunately, I did feel like the anime didn't focus on the two main girls enough? I feel like I didn't get to know them enough. I wish I could have felt their struggle. Neither of them had happy lives, but I came out feeling worse for Angela than for them, despite Angela having a lot of her success spoonfed to her. Maybe I'm just really used to anime with saturated angst and flashbacks and high stakes, but I think this one could have leaned into it more. The only flashback of Carole we get is when she's in school, getting bullied, and she fights back. I loved that, and I think a bit more would have been great. This anime is supposed to be sweet and feel-good, but sometimes feel-good means you get a taste of feel-bad for a little antithesis.
The plus size representation. I wasn't expecting anything. I certainly appreciated that the 17 year olds looked like 17 year olds and there weren't minors with weirdly huge busts running around. The character designs seemed pretty varied and fun, and there were a few fat men that existed and didn't follow the usual stupid/constantly eating shtick that every cartoon ever likes.
Also, are we really supposed to believe that these two girls from different backgrounds just get along perfectly right from the start? Best friends forever? We do get some conflict between them towards the end, and there are moments where they both fail (Tuesday is a bad homemaker and can't clean, Carole can't keep a job) but it feels a little too perfect between them. I don't mind that they magically sing well together--I'm into that--but I wanted them to have to work together on their songs and struggle to become closer and united.
OKAY NOW LET'S TALK LGBT.
I'm really not happy about this, overall.
I heard that this anime had a lot of representation, and I was excited about that! But theeeennn. Yeah. No.
Once again, some people are troubled by the mermaid sisters. I liked them until they got aggressive. It would have suited the situation more if they had huffed at the rude judge lady and stomped off the stage, but the aggressiveness was not a good time.
Cybelle definitely has this predatory lesbian stereotype going on, doing all us girls-who-like-girls dirty. I thought it was cool that Tuesday had to face crazy fan pressure and high expectations--it's definitely something someone with her personality would struggle with. Frankly, I think a crazy stalker fan as a plot struggle is exciting, but... I don't think this was handled well. I liked Cybelles character design and her song, though--if only she wasn't out here biting people.
However, there was a healthy lesbian relationship going on somewhere in the world when that happened. One of the side characters talked casually about how she's going to marry a woman. That was great! Characters casually being LGBT without it being a main plot point is SO important!
And now. Some transphobia. Angela's mom is a somewhat disturbing mtf caricature. She's got crazy makeup that doesn't look great, shes got a deep voice, mousey hair. Have ya'll seen mtf folks? They don't look like that!
She apparently was on some kind of medicine that made her aggressive and abuse Angela years before. She seems to have changed since then, but uh, Idk why we out here forgiving people who hit kids. Angela seems to resent her for the abuse (valid), and perhaps for transitioning (yikes), there's a scene that seems to link the two somehow, but we don't know exactly why.
What is with this link between aggression and non-cis, non-straight characters? It's so odd. Is it intentionally homophobic and transphobic? I think it's trying to not be? I think it's the thought that counts and a sign that anime is almost out of the twentieth century.
I liked that there were these characters with different sexualities, but there weren't any scenes that were fan-servicey. It wasn't trying to target a specific fujoshi audience with them, it just had them to have them. It was intentionally diverse. There weren't unnecessary romantic subplots that didn't fit the show's tone. It really felt like it was about music, and I liked so many of the songs. I've been replaying dancing laundry and dance tonight constantly.
Okay, those are my random thoughts. What do you guys think? Anything to add?
