JPT1311 - Destiny Turner

The final post I'll be making for this class is for the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. I actually haven't seen JJK, so I was really excited to watch it this week. I didn't want to watch only the assigned episodes, so I actually sat down and grinded out all 30 episodes as well as the movie (after watching the two other assigned anime)! It was a lot, but obviously I got it done with a few hours to spare. I really enjoyed what I've watched so far, and I'm even more excited for the Shibuya Incident arc. In the assigned episodes, I was not able to take away much, but I feel the biggest thing that stood out to me was Geto and his steady decline. At first, he seemed totally normal, but after suffering a loss to somebody who didn't have cursed energy, he began to question everything he had stood for as a sorcerer. He used to believe that he had to protect the weak, because he was strong and they couldn't do it themselves, but that all changed after he lost to a "monkey" without cursed energy. He started to question why he chose to protect people who couldn't protect themselves when he was above them, because he had cursed energy. He then had a talk with another sorcerer, who planted the seed into his head to kill off all non-sorcerers. Eventually, he witnessed people with no power discriminating against young girls who did, and he finally lost it, murdering the entire village. I feel something like this could be seen in people like school shooters, which ties back to surveillance over people, and the inability to be able to predict such horrifying accidents. In the end, I really enjoyed JJK and will be finishing it soon. Thank you to everyone who has read and reacted to my posts, and goodbye!!

This is one of those anime that I’ve always wanted to watch but never got around to. But man, it was a lot sadder than I thought it was going to be. I might have to go watch the full series now. Anyway, this anime follows Violet Evergarden, a former child soldier who was mainly treated as a weapon instead of a person. Since she grew up in the military and was never really treated as human, she never learned the social skills many children learn throughout their childhood. In the beginning she is kind of emotionally detached, speaking very formally and not understanding the nuance of human emotion. But as the story goes on, she gradually begins to understand, picking up on other people's feelings and using them to understand her own. This story is very well written, as we see her constantly struggling with her own feelings. Since she grew up in the army and fought in wars, she had taken many people's lives. She struggled with the idea of being free and helping people with their own feelings, as she, one, had trouble expressing her own feelings, and two, didn’t think she should be allowed to since the same hands she used to articulate people’s feelings took many lives. This anime also did a great job of showing how grief affects people. When Violet found out that Gilbert died, she first didn’t accept it, believing him to somehow still be alive. Once she finally saw his grave, she tried to take her own life but ended up stopping short, realizing that it’s not going to change anything.

Overall, this anime was really good. I will definitely be watching the actual series whenever I find the time. Also, I kind of want a typewriter now. Is that weird?

Set 31 years after World War III, the plot serves as a commentary on systems of greed, neglect, and lack of ethics by those in power. Tetsuo and Kaneda are two members of a biker gang who become entangled with the government after an accidental collision with a psychic test subject. Tetsuo, in turn, gets taken in and experimented on, resulting in him gaining psychic powers as well. What I found most interesting is the dynamic between Tetsuo and Kaneda and how it triggers many of the events. Before that, I think it is crucial to understand the climate of this time and the pressure exerted on young children. In their high school, all the kids are told that school is their last chance to be able to keep living and that if they cannot adapt to living in a group, it’s the end of the road. Tetsuo, bullied and weak, is frustrated with himself for never being able to fight and always having to be saved by his friend Kaneda. Kaneda, on the other hand, takes pity on him and wants to genuinely be of help to him, not knowing it’s the very thing that triggers Tetsuo. So, now that Tetsuo has gained the power to be able to fight back, he loses control. He feels unstoppable and relishes in his situation, taking many lives. Ironically enough, though, towards the end, as he is transforming due to the uncontrollable power of Akira, he calls out to Kaneda for help once more. He, who rejected his help more than anything, reached out his hand to his savior once more, finally realizing the consequences of being at the top. I really liked this dynamic; however, beyond that, this film really emphasizes the greed of those in power, not just Tetsuo’s, but specifically the government’s. Riots are going on, people are plagued by unemployment, violent biker gangs and protests, lack of educational order, and yet the government is solely focused on trying to keep their experiments undercover and gain control of the power, the very thing they call “the power of God” and the very thing that had triggered World War III. This greed to be above and to be the most powerful sickens society as it crumbles under their direct feet due to a lack of actual implementation of laws and good regulation. Instead, they enforce violence on the protesters to quiet them and, in a way, ignore them too. In my opinion, I feel as though Akira is not just a “weapon” that caused destruction but a direct metaphor for greed and the consequence of treating humans as tools for progress (it may also be a direct reference to the destructive power of the atomic bombs that struck Japan and the effects on its people afterwards). Apart from that, the visuals from the film were so stunning, and I actually love Kaneda’s red motorbike so much, it’s to die for!

            The movie Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind follows the story of Princess Nausicaa, the leader of a peaceful valley surrounded by a toxic jungle, known as the Sea of Decay, filled with giant insects. In a world that is devastated by pollution and war, Princess Nausicaa attempts to understand the jungle instead of destroying it. Her compassion, curiosity, and commitment to non-violence allow her to uncover the truth about the origins of her environment. As a whole, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind emphasizes the importance of harmony between humans and nature in a world that is struggling to recover from its past.

            In the movie, the toxic jungle serves as a relatively straightforward and powerful metaphor for human initiated environmental destruction. Pollution is a very prevalent issue both in the past and today. The jungle, although seen by most as dangerous, is eventually revealed to be purifying the Earth. This points out nature’s tendency to heal itself over time. This idea could be relevant today with things like climate change, pollution, or deforestation. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind works as a warning to its viewers of the long-term impacts of the relationship between humans and their environment.

One of the anime I watched this week was Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It follows a boy named Rex as he attempts to find the heaven of their world, Erlysum. Watching what I watched definitely made me want to play the game. I had always been interested in it but I have yet to give it a shot up until now.

One thing that stuck out to me that connected the anime to our readings is the way people live on titans. I think this also parallels really nicely with Nausicaa. We see the main character Rex and Nausicaa live in harmony with nature as Rex was raised by a titan and Nausicaa is seen living off of nature but never harming it. Versus other peoples who industrialized and use nature as an object. Like the Tolekians and the Guild respectively.

When Rex is betrayed we see that the people are using Aesya as a means of power to fit their grand narrative. They were only able to get into the room where the blade was stored due to Rex and after that they toss him aside. I think this parallel how countries use smaller nations to attain their goals and ambitions. Global powers will use smaller less well off countries for their resources and then when their usefulness to the global powers wears off they will cast them aside.

I myself have only been to one convention ever. I went to a gaming convention about 5 years ago, right before Covid, with a group of my best friends. Walking into the convention, my very mature 14-year-old self was thinking about how strange this was and how I didn't really belong with all these super gamer nerds (mature was satire, btw). Regardless, I continued on, enjoying the convention with my friends. As time went on, I got more and more used to everything and began to be much more accepting of what was going on around me. My friends and I spent hours in the convention center and even bought a ticket to a play in a Fortnite round. I got 89th place; don't ask me why I remember that. I ended up having an absolute blast and really enjoyed the time I had at the convention. The walls in my little 14-year-old mind were broken down a bit because of how everybody was in there. There is no discrimination, making fun of, or judgment, just a bunch of nerds enjoying themselves, and I say nerds with a positive connotation. It builds a sense of community, and I honestly think that's something really special and can't really be found anywhere else. Of course, just a few months later, I began watching anime and absolutely fell in love with it. I have watched over 30 anime completely and have a list of many more that I have yet to watch. Anime has become a very large part of my life and probably is the interest that I have put the most time towards since I started. This love for anime has also led me to read my fair share of manga, but not nearly as much as anime. I like to consider myself one of those super nerds now, and I have no shame in it whatsoever. My friends and I have even made plans multiple times to attend OtakuFest in my home city of Miami. Unfortunately, we have never gone, but I plan on going in the future. I even attended a friend's Halloween party, where everybody had to dress up in One Piece cosplay to get in. I was assigned Ace, and I honestly had a lot of fun cosplaying.

Now, I don't remember enough from that one convention five years ago to write a whole 600 words, so I watched the documentary True Otaku. I had planned on writing the whole blog post about the documentary, but as I watched, I started to remember how I felt during the one convention that I attended. I feel the documentary really backed up what my beliefs were about the community that is built inside those convention centers. Otaku was once a derogatory term, being an otaku was far from good. But over time, people began to be proud of their interests, and it only strengthened as the community grew. Conventions are now a place where everybody is as free as free gets, a true no-judgment zone. They are a place where people who usually may be shunned or made fun of for their interests can be themselves and enjoy their interests with the likes of many others. I think a very strong fandom is a great thing, and nobody should be shunned for having interests. I very much enjoy the fact that people have pride in the word otaku now because they are standing up for themselves and not letting others put them down for having an interest in Japanese culture. I'd like to consider myself an otaku as well, even if I don't have a million copies of manga or cosplay or go to every convention. I have an intense love for Japanese culture, and my life would be very different if I wasn't introduced to it. So, in my humble opinion, yay otaku and yay convention.

Of course I've heard of Evangelion before, with it's endless praises from many, but it never really interested me. The whole robot mecha aesthetic seemed nice and all, but I didn't think it was for me as it seemed rather graphic and violent. After watching this first part for class, I still believe this anime isn't for me, but it was nice to listen to its iconic opening.

One thing I noticed was the compositing. Compositing seems much more obvious in older anime, while in newer ones, it's less obvious. I think this is due to the fact that the painted, detailed backgrounds stand out from the simpler style of animation. In watching this anime, it reminded me a lot of Gundam, and how both Shinji and Amuro are in similar situations. Both are young boys, around 14 years of age, and they are forced to become fighters who pilot mechs against an opposing force. They both have to grow up quick and act like adults despite being so young. A scene that particularly stuck out to me was in episode 2, where Shinji kept replaying a song over and over again while on the train. It is only that when the train has stopped it's service for the day, and he has to get off, he moves on to the next song. I think this tries to show how Shinji wants to go back to how his life was before all of this, when he didn't have to worry about saving humanity from the angels. Holding onto the past seems to act as a coping mechanism as Shinji is gripped with this new reality. At the end of the day though, he realizes that there's no going back, and in letting the song change to a different one, he resumes to the present.

In connecting this anime to the reading, Relations among Masculinities: Hegemony, Subordination, Complicity, Marginalization, which describes Hegemonic masculinity, Shinji is excluded from this form of masculinity. Shinji is a more quiet, soft spoken boy, and he doesn't fit into the ideal of what a boy "should be like" at his age. Throughout the assigned episodes, he is told by Misato to act like a boy/man. Shinji himself even calls himself a wimp in one of the episodes for quitting his job of piloting the eva. I think all of these moments show how those who act differently from the "norm" of hegemonic masculinity are punished, and thereby rejected by society.

I finished watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and it is an incredible show. Even though I remain confused on some aspects of the symbolism and themes being presented I found it really interesting. It touched on a lot of problems and issues I personally dealt with before in a really interesting way.

The episodes really do touch upon the readings and viewings previously mentioned about masculinity. In one of the episodes Shinji is forced to fight against his friend Tohji after he loses control in his eva due to it being his first time in it. He starts acting like an angel to the enemies of the show. When Shinji sees that the angel is an eva he doesn’t want to fight it due to there being a human inside. His father then forces him to fight and be a first hand witness to the violence of it through a remote control of Shinji’s eva. 

I think this is a perfect example of how those who don’t fit into hemogenic masculinity are treated. Shinji’s wishes to not enact violence on others are overruled by his father who is the peak of hemogenic masculinity in the show. Not only does his father disregard his wishes but he forces Shinji to essentially enact the violence. His father is demonstrating to him how he will be treated if he doesn’t act more masculine and fit into the mold society created for it. 

            End of Evangelion works as an alternate ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. The movie replaces the final 2 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion with a more literal and intense conclusion. The viewing displays brutal violence and the deaths of major characters. The anime also explores Shinji’s mental health and eventual psychological collapse. The viewing begins to conclude when The Human Instrumentality Project begins, merging all human souls into a collective consciousness, however Shinji is able to reject this forced unity by choosing to embrace individuality and the struggles that come with it. The viewing finally comes to an end with Shinji and Asuka, the only two seen in the aftermath, symbolizing rebirth, pain, and the hope of human connection.

            The biggest thing that stood out for me while watching En fog Evangelion was the intense and often unique imagery that could have been used to critique how society has become desensitized to violence, particularly through media and political systems. Things like the visualization of military assault or the brutal deaths of significant characters highlights the tendency of institutions to easily justify violence with control or progress. Additionally, this film challenges and questions the normalization of violence in popular media. This is done by forcing the audience to witness a graphic and emotional sequence of suffering.