#running commentary

Also is it tumblr etiquette to reblog this to continue it or to start a new post all together?

My brain is a loose, sprawling ball of twine. If I actually try to share my stream of consciousness, there's some relevant and interesting stuff. And then there's...sixteen different iterations of Patrick Star daydreaming about a spilled milk carton. I said I'd take a crack at a reaction-style thing for the episode "We're Captured." Hopefully, I can drum up the confidence for that long-delayed and promised Voxman scenes reaction too.

With how this show works, this is a really clever framing device for establishing how old school and low stakes Boxman is as a villain. Sure, he has them dangling above a lava pit, but he places very strong emphasis on wanting to scare or rattle Rad, K.O., and Enid. The lava is too obvious. The closer they get, the more curveballs he has set up: An industrial fan blows them 'out of harm's way.' There's knives dangling from loosely tied string nearby. It's a farce.

They're never actually hitting the lava. It's a 007 "you have plenty of time to escape the laser" trap that's more about Boxman getting a chance to showboat, monologue, and revel in one-upping his elusive rivals. He's a jobber villain. A chance to gloat is the most satisfying victory.

Under normal circumstances, Boxman would be giving these three his full, undivided attention. His dynamic is poked fun at as something that can be easily undone with a Bugs Bunny quip or caper. It's even easier now given that he's asking for a reminder on where they're at in the "Ha! I captured you" speech and spiel. Despite them trying to escape, Rad and Enid appreciate and even elude to enjoying Boxman's theatrics. Where Rad and Enid paint this as a run of the mill encounter, or supposedly a typical villain encounter, K.O. is very new to everything and the one captive scared by Boxman's otherwise rote routine.

Viewers get nods at Boxman's split attention because of how odd and out of place the pink oven mitt is.

Boxman races off to bumble through an attempt to cook a roast in an industrial grade smelting furnace. He promptly burns it to the point it's a pile of inedible mush but he's so pressed for time he tries to cover his blunder with fancy dressing and garnishes. Either Boxman knows how to properly cook and this is a rare off day or he spends more time studying plate presentation and Instagram ready food than the steps it takes to prepare.

This is both Boxman's and the audience's introduction to Fink as a character. PV's first on-screen appearance is an exclusive POW card K.O. admires from Dendy's extensive collection in the episode "I am Dendy." So, viewers were anticipating the eventual on-screen appearance of the devilishly handsome and purple mad scientist. Fink is a fun, unexpected complement. She's a loud, opinionated little gremlin that isn't afraid to express things in a very blunt, aggressive manner compared to PV's attempt at restraint.

Neither Fink or PV wanted to come to Boxman's big gala dinner. Fink is more obvious because she's a disgruntled kid getting dragged to a stuffy adult business meeting/event. PV is trying to be polite, but he's a lot more icy and irritated than he would be otherwise. Look at how he greets Billiam in "Villains' Night Out" in contrast to how tight-lipped and formal he is greeting Boxman here. He's also genuinely excited by the idea of karaoke and is all keyed up to spend time with other villains. It's easy to chalk this guy up as 24/7 stoic since his usual sounding board is Boxman and it takes until "Boxman Crashes" to see the goofier, more expressive side of his personality.

Leading up to the dinner party, the tension is worsened by Boxman's need to overcompensate. He's overdressed compared to Fink and PV in their general, everyday outfits. He's eager to please, tries to make himself small and accommodating compared to how loud and boisterous he is in general, and just...

The hug. It's forced and uncomfortable. While Boxman does legitimately like and admire PV, hence the elevator eyes and shoujo sparkles, he's still a client. And Boxman has dubious experience around maintaining professional relationships or running his business in general. Mr. Logic is heavily responsible for what investments and strategy built up Boxmore. Taxes, spreadsheets, and business is definitely offloaded to Ernesto.

Looking at this whole awkward dinner, Boxman either grew up with parents that threw big events and greeted everybody with the overly friendly "kiss kiss darling" hug or he picked up cues from outdated rich person impress their friends guides. It's shallow, performative, surface level, and ignorant. When PV shows obvious discomfort or requests that Boxman stop, Boxman is too caught up with his in-progress ministrations. He's spent so much time practicing or preparing for the scenario "Impress PV with this specific technique" that he's stuck running through the motions. It's also easier to continue down this route since he's trying to precariously balance the gala dinner with tormenting the plaza brats.

PV's comments hint that he recruited Fink recently. Or at least, he's started feeling more comfortable introducing her to other villains and the public as his minion. After Boxman makes a dig about robots as easier to control, PV directs a barb at Boxman's inability to deliver promised goods on time. PV is a bit passive aggressive. Where he plans on cutting his business relationship with Boxman, he's still drawing things out by sitting through the dinner and needling Boxman with insults or complaints rather than just being upfront and direct.

On Boxman's part, he shows how inexperienced he is with socializing. His most significant relationships are his kids, who he manipulates to bend to his will, or his hero rivals. Both scenarios involve him wrestling for or seeking full control of his situation and surroundings. Someone like PV skews the power dynamic he's used to. He's the more powerful and influential one between the two of them, because of his wealth and status alone. While Rad, Enid, and K.O. regularly win against Boxman, they don't pose the same existential and material threat someone like PV or Cosma can. PV's support funds Boxmore. The Plaza brats are still a relatively even or manageable challenge compared to someone that can crack the foundation of Boxman's entire livelihood.

Power dynamics aside, neither of these guys know how to properly communicate. PV relies on hints and subtext. Boxman is oblivious and out of practice talking to anyone that isn't a yes man or a rival.

The organic vs robotic debate also drops hints at what viewers might expect when they see PV manufacture a threat or bring to a fight on his terms. PV giving Rad, Enid, and K.O. a nasty 24-hour bug was on the lighter side of what he'll cook up. When "The K.O. Trap" rolls around, it's a flashing red light for how cruel PV really is. I consider the opening sequence for "We're Captured" as Boxman's take on villainy in a nutshell. It's a very dramatic, uncomfortable contrast to PV playing the role of a cat toying with his prey with callous, sadistic candor.

Boxman has to put effort into every robot attack and hero encounter. PV can decide what heroes he'll take out at his leisure, preferring to keep them at bay with traps if he doesn't have the time or can't be arsed to make an in-person appearance. When Rad, Enid, and K.O. confront him, he's terrifying and scary from the comfort of his office chair. He makes a few comments about how he'd love to dissect the three heroes and the morally unethical nature of his temporary "they have a soul!" goo clones. Boxman has to put on a big song and dance and theatrics. PV has the it factor as an evil villain with little to no extra effort on his part.

So, Boxman tries to hide the plaza attacks and how much said attacks are eating up his time. He's really hoping that he has one last opportunity to smooth things over and repair what's obviously a very strained, on thin ice business relationship. Sorry, dude. You don't have the level of charisma a used car salesman relies on to fleece people. You need Stan Pines or Reigen Arataka level snake oil for the ass pull you're attempting.

Someone had to have pitched the Boxbots crashing the gala dinner with their take on "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music. There might be storyboards floating around somewhere. Considering how painful and awkward Boxman is by himself, he doesn't need a full musical number to hammer it home.

This is one of my all-time favorite jokes in this show. "Are you going to COOK and EAT us?!"

"I'm a villain...not a monster."

There's a disturbing reference in another episode where Carol hints at sourcing beef from a minotaur rather than a cow. Laios would be proud! And don't forget that a sapient food person like Drupe exists alongside homegrown, inanimate strawberries. The Amazing World of Gumball leans much farther into how macabre scenarios and dark humor relating to them can get, but this show does tease at some of the weirder implications around its fantastical world and characters.

Boxman's comments following the cannibal joke is his first on-screen confession about the "spinning too many plates" struggle between keeping up with robot manufacturing and his Saturday morning cartoon gig. When he laments about wanting to have it all, that reminds me about the painful real world problem so many people face trying to carve out time for hobbies or having a life outside work at all in an increasingly 40-60 hour work weeks are the norm world. Jobs are a means to survive in a dystopian capitalist hellscape. Robot manufacturing is how Boxman keeps building bigger, nastier, and more frivolous robots to torment the kids across the street. Just let him have this, man.

Give us the full version of Shannon's song, dammit. I want to sneak it onto my wife's song playlist and see if she recognizes it between her Rebecca Sugar albums and Chumbawumba. It'd be really tame compared to the bulk of what she listens to...

After I've done some more research on rats and scent, I can come up with something more substantial than "PV is her safe space." While PV and Fink are openly affectionate, I think she's reluctant to express just how important Boss is to her and that she loves him like a dad. It's a bit too mushy for her "tough guy" image and she isn't fond of being vulnerable. From what little flashes viewers have of her background, Fink was in really rough, survival mode circumstances before PV. She's fiercely loyal towards and protective of him because he was probably the first person to be kind to her. She doesn't want one of the few positive things in her life to leave or get ripped away. Yeah...

Also, I think Boxmore is full of weird nooks, crannies, and costume closets. The Bots totally had a pretend chef phase which included an absurd amount of fake mustaches.

Oh my God! I think the blatant apple juice label is a dig at how many older '00s dubs sloppily edited any hint of booze to look like grape juice or soda instead. My wife and I are watching through the English dub of Medabots and there was a sake bottle with a bad MS paint job "SODA" slapped over it. The kids can't know alcohol exists! Well, it's either a reference or Boxman just isn't interested in 'adult beverages.'

So, the dinner scene is Boxman doubling down on trying to flatter PV and butter him up. The burned food only amplifies how much Boxman is flailing and drowning. Boxman's waffling is accented by stop and stall Looney Tunes gags like Fink's corn sign and Darrell trying to draw attention to his general presence and sailor costume.

[Insert loud, incomprehensible squealing here.]

I swear Fink is the biggest, if not the sole reason, I love Professor Venomous. That little moment with him admiring her paper boat shows why she gets along with him as well as she does. Boxman's first interactions with her are what she expects: getting belittled, talked over, shoved aside. PV actually acknowledges what she has to say and tries to actively include her in whatever they're doing together.

Rad, Enid, and K.O. proceed to crash and ruin Boxman's dinner in a vie to humiliate him in front of his oh-so-important client with more moves pulled out of Bugs Bunny's playbook. They fasten a "Baby Boy" bib around Boxman's neck, Enid grates so much pepper onto PV's spaghetti he has a sneezing fit that leads to him frustrated and covered in spaghetti. When Boxman tries to defuse the cartoon antics with "You're free to go," Rad covers him in mashed potatoes. Double-booking results in Enid piloted karma. She's directly emulated Bugs' iconic doorframe lean and carrot chomp and her established fursona is a rabbit. She's written and set as a spiritual successor to the king of obnoxious fair turnabout slapstick.

PV recognizes K.O. after the fake mustache slips. Clark Kent glasses logic doesn't apply here. He's two steps deeper than the absentee dad making a cigarette run, so it's a surprise he clocks who K.O. is at all. I've been curious whether or not anyone called that "PV is K.O.'s bio dad" as early on as this particular scene. It definitely establishes that PV knows or has some kind of connection to K.O., but the bigger breadcrumbs don't show up until Shadowy Figure's first on-screen appearance.

Look at how quickly PV dives under the table while Fink gets pelted by flying pies. The minute there's more flying food, it's everyone fend for themselves! Despite being a bio-engineer that probably spends a lot of time in the lab surrounded by viscera and other bio hazards, he's really jarred by the idea of getting hit with a coconut cream pie. I guess his regular fit is dry clean only or his stain sticks are in his lab coat pocket.

Cue Boxman's breaking point where he emulates an aggressive Rambo machine gun volley but with a lego brick Boxbot pie cannon. PV has somewhere between an epiphany and a heart eyes moment.

Boxman has exactly what he desperately wants as a king of the mountain villain: Boxman's heroes are clever, scrappy, put up an active challenge. There's a core to Boxman vs the Plaza. Everyone knows and plays with how fun and campy a Boxman attack is. It's not as high stakes as PV's fights probably are. His heroes launch a one-note attack with the single endgame he's stopped. Here, Boxman gets heroes that banter and dance around him. They absolutely stoop to his level of petty.

PV enjoys stepping in and trying out the cannon. He delights in showing off how much more sharp-toothed and dangerous he is compared to the Plaza heroes' typical foe. When he declares that he'll back Boxman's ventures, he sees the pie cannon as a sales pitch. Maybe he can recreate his own slice of action and absurdity. He's a guest tonight, but he'll pay top dollar for the opportunity to live Boxman's attack the Plaza fantasy daily. Later episodes establish that no, PV returns to boredom, effortless wins, and bureaucratic red tape. He doesn't get the full Boxman experience until he moves in and becomes Boxman's business/life partner.

When PV invites Boxman to give him a hug, it plays out as a warm, friendly gesture until Boxman starts nuzzling into PV's chest and building a nest in his arms. Boxman is so hungry for affection, validation, and positive reinforcement. His grasps at control are attempts to make up for his low self-esteem and intense loneliness.

"Villains' Night Out" fills in the gaps: PV is the closest thing Boxman has to a friend. He has a very one-sided relationship, declaring PV as his best friend while PV is trying to figure out how he feels about Boxman in general. He'll offer Boxman an olive branch, but his gestures are more low-key than the overzealous, all-in energy Boxman brings with him and longs to have reciprocated. It takes awhile for these two to figure out how to meet the other's expectations. Once it does, they're a fantastic team. It just takes better communication skills than either one is really capable of.

Fink shuts down Boxman's extra clingy hug with an Acme brand pop gun. Compare Fink's toys to Rippy Roo's antics and cute, clever Looney Tunes expy is exactly what PV seeks out in his teammates and minions. Even Boxman has a touch of that sought after classic cartoon silliness to him.

Rad, Enid, and K.O. are shot into the sky with a Team Rocket panache and twinkle. It's their first major loss to their pathetic Saturday morning cartoon baddie and it smarts. It's a significant dynamic shift and uncomfortable enough that Rad tries to lean on the same duct tape that maintains his flimsy macho facade.

Usually, when the Bigger Bad is introduced, they overshadow the jobber villain and eventually take their role as the series' villain. The jobber becomes a seething minion or a background character that resents the Bigger Bad. Look at Chase Young's introduction in Xiaolin Showdown or Toffee in Star Vs the Forces of Evil. Instead, "We're Captured" is the start of an awkward love story where the jobber and the Bigger Bad end up together. The jobber becomes a more competent villain and the Bigger Bad is actually downplayed when he wants to get along with his partner. They genuinely like each other and their interactions are littered with ship flags and ship bait. They're a married couple in all but the title until the last minute, show's cancelled so we can show them wedding rings.

The only other example I can think of where a Bigger Bad shows up and not only serves as a thematic complement to the series' running villain but also their love interest is Total Drama World Tour. Alejandro and Heather have been my OTP since 2010. Of course I ship Voxman.

Dear readers: 

Today we are trying something new. To give you some insight into our process in the Japanese moderator section, we are presenting our response in the form of running commentary to show you how we dissect and answer long asks. We hope this makes clear what points are useful and not useful when sending us a query. As always, this is for learning purposes, not callouts. Be prepared: this is a long one. 

To summarize: the asker is looking to create a comic drawn in Japanese manga style, and has provided a long summary of the story and worldbuilding which involves a mix of “reimagined” Japanese yokai mythos and cultural symbols from many other sources. They have questions with respect to cultural appropriation, coding etiquette, and “what is and isn’t ok.” 

Opening Comments

I know a common advice when it comes to the thing I am about to ask is to talk to people involved in __, but I struggle with opening up to strangers for reasons I'm uncomfortable explaining. 

Marika (M): This is already a red flag. If you want to engage with another culture without talking to people from that culture, then research is going to be very challenging. You won’t have members of that culture to guide you towards sources and perspectives they feel most accurately represents public opinion. If I were in your shoes, I might start with tackling my discomfort when engaging with other people, if only to improve my work. If you aren’t ready to engage with a culture and its people directly, then I think you should wait until you are. 

I should note, reaching out to the Japanese mod team at WWC does count as engagement, but WWC should not and cannot be the only point of contact because there is no single, legitimate cultural perspective. 

Rina (R): Also, you don’t need to “open up” to strangers or talk to them in person to get perspectives. Asking specific research questions anonymously to a forum or on social media requires very little vulnerability. You managed to do it here on WWC. So give it a try! 

Anyway, my question basically amounts to the what is and isn't ok [sic] in terms of depicting fantasy creatures and concepts outside of their respective culture.

R: So, the reason why we turn away rubber stamp questions by that ask “is XYZ okay?” is because “okay” & “not okay” 1) is vague and 2) creates a dichotomy where there isn’t one. 

When we say something is “not okay,” do we mean:

It’s offensive to the general majority of XYZ group? 

It’s contentious among people who ID in the group? 

It has a potential to be interpreted in a certain negative way, but may not be a red flag to everyone?

Insetad try asking:

What are the reasons this subject is offensive? 

What makes cultural appropriation bad? 

When might it be “okay” to intentionally discuss a difficult or controversial topic?

What is your reason for including something that may be interpreted as offensive and can it be sufficiently justified? 

What stereotypes or tropes might it be consistently identified as or associated with, and why? 

When might it be justified to bring up these tropes?

With That In Mind...

Let’s get into the rest of the ask below.