Class Blog

I really liked this movie! I was excited to watch it because I was a really big fan of Perfect Blue, so I’m glad to see this type of animation and psychological thriller from the same director. He definitely implements similar designs and actions in his films, like when Atsuko (Paprika) is jumping in the beginning like we saw in Perfect Blue. This movie was a little creepy with the recurring circus dream, but it was a very cool and beautiful film to experience. I was definitely confused throughout the film, it took a bit of time to wrap my head around it. 

This movie follows Atsuko, both a psychiatrist and detective, who uses this device that tracks, records, and analyzes one’s dreams to further understand a patient/ suspect’s psyche. Not only can it do this, but it can allow people to interact and change aspects of their dreams, with people having the free will to enter the dreams, with or without permission. The devices however are stolen, and Paprika goes on a journey in searching for them. The confusion and complexity then begins to peak. We see the lines blur between reality and dreams. It kind of reminded me of the movie Inception, and a little bit of Perfect Blue. In Perfect Blue, we see the lines blur between reality and her delusions too. 

This movie definitely delves into the conversation on our reality while we’re conscious and unconscious. There has always been debate on the concept of dreams. Is it just neurons firing in random directions that create these elusive dreams, or do we use it unconsciously to process different emotions, trauma, and situations we deal with in the real world? I like how it addresses and conceptualizes what would happen when the worlds of the conscious and unconscious merge, creating this abstract symbolism on several conflicts one could have with their unconscious processing. 

I feel like I always wondered what my dreams mean because I am personally a contender that dreams do allow for people to process the emotions and situations of everyday and trauma throughout life, and this kind of re-asserted it for me. I also liked the vulnerability of allowing someone to enter your dreams and open yourself up to someone experiencing and analyzing your unconscious. 

Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is one of my favorite films of all time. Not only is it beautifully illustrated and directed, but this film can be interpreted and dissected endlessly in several different ways. Whether it is the beautiful coming-of-age story of the young Chihiro or the strong notes of capitalist critique, this movie has a lot to unpack; I could write a 10-page paper on this movie. 

This movie follows Chihiro as she moves cities following her father’s new job. They come across an interesting tunnel which the parents happily enter, with Chihiro incredibly hesitant. They reach this carnival, where they feast at a restaurant that turns them into pigs. This could represent the concept of overconsumption in a post-capitalist era, transforming them into “capitalist pigs.” The young Chihiro runs away toward the bathhouse, in which Haku tells her to run away, but her efforts fail as she looks for her parents. In order to survive this world and save her parents, she must eat from this world and perform labor. She searches desperately for a job, finally receiving one from the witch Yubaba. We then follow her through her journey in navigating this new and overwhelming world revolving around an industrial structure of consumption and labor, experiencing responsibility, the significance of kindness, and independence. 

Her attitude in the beginning and during the film is significant to the plotline. She heavily contrasts the actions of her parents, hesitant and frightened by all of their decisions. She fears the speeding car toward a new world, the entrance into a new terrain, and the consumption of all the food that is justified for the taking for the exchange of money. They take and perform solely in this feeling of entitlement to anything as long as they perform in trade for monetary value. Even as Chihiro is left alone in this world, she reserves this attitude of hesitation and rejection to performing in labor, signifying that she is unexposed to this type of society, representing the overwhelming nature of jumping from this childlike and naive world of traditional cultural identity to a postcapitalist world that leaves it behind. 

The bathhouse is interesting. I feel like the bathhouse itself could represent and symbolize the efforts to retain the traditional cultural identity of Japan pre-Westernization, with the workers inside it doing the opposite. They are only concerned with profit. This is seen with someone like the stink spirit. It was only until Chihiro cleaned him and released him from the filth did they realized he was in fact a water spirit. It was like he was polluted by industrial capitalism to the point that he was unrecognizable. This is further seen in Haku, in which he is not recognized as the Hukau River spirit. 

I think No Face is the biggest example of the dangers of capitalism. He is seen as a neutral identity, literally referred to as No Face. When he receives validation from the exchange of gold for high treatment, he becomes this greedy and overconsuming monster. He tries to win over the kindness of Chihiro who lets him in, but she rejects it and is unconcerned and uninterested in this exchange. It’s only when he exits the bathhouse, the source of these attitudes, and experiences the kindness and rejection of the concept of profit, does he return to his original state. 

I know I’m focusing on the commentary of a capitalist culture growing in Japan in conflict with Japan’s cultural identity in this post, but this movie serves as a commentary on innate human nature too and even some factors of environmentalism. There are so many layers to this movie, giving reason to why it’s one of my favorite movies. Also, it’s just so beautifully animated. 

Despite my last blog post, I like this anime now! The more episodes I watched, the more I liked it. I feel like these episodes were a bit more clear in what is going on. It seems like the monster rats are at war with the humans, and their ruler, or god,  is the Ogre. The Ogre was born from Maria and Mamoru, however, the monster rats took the human infant and raised it to believe it was a monster rat. It then does not have death feedback for humans, only for monster rats. The Ogre ends up dying, and Yakomaru is sentenced under punishment to eternal hell. However, Yakomaru’s words “we are human” haunt Saki, leading her to find out that the monsters are just genetically modified humans. She then finally kills him and releases him from his eternal hell. 

I’m writing this directly after watching it and my first thought was “it was kinda clique,” but now I kind of appreciate it as a campy-esque movie. Sukiyaki Western Django was super interesting and a wild ride. It follows a cowboy(?) through his journey into a town overrun by two clans: the Genji (white) and the Heike (red). We see both of them trying to compel the man to come to their side, but he then follows the Ruriko into safety while he learns the lore behind the clans. We learn about the forbidden romance between Akira and Shizuka, leading to the birth of Heihachi. Most of the movie revolves around finding this gold treasure and the two clans waging war against each other, ending with both of them being demolished by the man and Ruriko. It ends with the devastated Heihachi looming over his mother’s grave with a treasure of gold, later to grow up in Italy to become the infamous Django. 

I wouldn’t say it was my favorite, but it was produced and directed in a very unique way to me, After some research I learned it was because it was a nod toward Spaghetti Westerns, American films, and Japanese samurai films, embodying a mishmash of the three. I liked how we see historical and cultural influences of all three, being inherently influenced by a previous spaghetti western movie Django, presumably through the American gold rush, and the Japanese Genpei war. The blend of all three really encapsulates that the Western genre is not restricted to one culture. I even discovered “curry westerns” when looking up more information on the film! Also, random note, but I laughed when I saw Quentin Tarantino made a couple of cameos, lol. One thing that threw me off was this movie being entirely in English. Were spaghetti Westerns also in English? It made the delivery of all of the lines very unnatural (in terms of the sayings and vernacular of Western dialogue), and I wasn’t sure if that was the intention or not. Maybe it was to further the idea that the Wild West genre has become an international genre rather than one only subjected to Hollywood and the American audience. 

For the movie itself, I did not see any general themes that stood out to me really. There were several references to other movies, but I am not familiar with most of them, so that got lost in translation for me. I think the only link I made was that this movie and the movie it was influenced on was redone by Quentin Tarantino in his film Django. The sets were interesting too, with the first set in the first scene being a little cheesy to the other sets throughout the movie being mightily combined by Western and Japanese influences. The props radiated this mix as well, having katanas and those western-looking guns. Overall, pretty cool movie, and again I appreciate it for what it is, embodying a mix of cultures into one genre. 

Not gonna lie, I didn’t really enjoy Shin Sekai Yori. I don’t think it was a bad anime, I just think I personally don’t have the brain capacity for it. So much information is thrown at you and I made the mistake of trying to fold laundry and watch the show at the same time, LOL. From what I gathered, we follow the young Saki Watanabe as she finally gains her powers and moves on to an academy meant for people who possess psychic abilities. She joins group 1, with the members being Reiko, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, and Shun. 

I think the episode that stuck out most to me was episode 4. They encounter a thing called the Minoshiro, which reveals the answer to any question they ask. It ends up being a fake Minoshiro, in which a guy comes to destroy for them. However, they learn a lot of useful and saddening information from them. They learn about society from the Dark Ages and their own society, and the creation of Ogres and Karmic beings. They also learn information on the population of those with PK, such as only 0.3% of the population obtain PK and there were movements to eradicate them, some even leading to war. It made me feel sorry for these kids, they are absorbing so much information at such a young age, and given a lot of responsibility for holding this type of power. A lot is to be said about the development and destruction of certain societies and eras. It went from embracing PK powers to suppressing anyone who has them, leading to what they called the Dark Ages. Then it progresses back into acceptance or practice of PK powers into the present time in this anime. Episode 4 contained a big chunk of the history of this universe, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I feel like this show tried to implement many themes but I could not really catch myself developing any of my own thoughts. I think our next round of episodes will help me get a clearer idea of the message of this anime, but right now I feel like my mind is convoluted with the huge information dumps, especially in episode 4. One thing I did notice is the question of what it means to be human and to be treated as human. This goes for the rat people, Queerats, and all other beings in this universe. Even the existence as humans obtaining PK is called into question. So what makes one human, and what is the ethics of treating one as one? 

Wow, I absolutely loved Sweet Bean. I felt the joy and sorrow of the characters right alongside them, and the plot was so sweet (no pun intended) and warming, despite the horribly saddening ending. It was a really stark transition from our J-horror kick we have been having for the past two weeks. I think this is a contender for my favorite film we have watched in this class. 

Sweet Bean follows Sentaro Nagase at a Dorayaki bakery which is in (presumingly emotional) debt to the owners. An elderly woman named Takue persistently approaches him looking for a job, finally winning him over with her delicious An (red bean paste) recipe. They begin working together, and within a couple of days, the shop is booming with customers due to the change of recipe. Takue and Sentaro create a beautiful bond during their time together in the bakery. However, Takue has leprosy, and word of that spreads around and gets to the owner, leading to the owner asking Sentaro to fire her. Although it pained him, he did end up firing Takue. They kept in contact with him visiting her a few times. The bakery also is set to undergo a change in workers (the owner's nephew who seems like he sucks is hired), and renovation is underway. Not only does this occur, but Takue passes on as well. All of this pushes him to start his own Dorayaki stand. 

While this movie revolves around food, I feel this movie touches a lot on disabilities. It was so disheartening and angering to learn how leprosy victims were forced into a life-long quarantine and the prejudice against them in the past in this movie. She is even let go for the fear that leprosy is highly contagious, but that’s not the case. When the owner asked for the hand sanitizer, that pissed me off. They are made up to look essentially monstrous, but again that’s not the case. I wonder why leprosy was chosen for the representation of the ablism depicted in this movie, maybe because of the physical outward appearance of leprosy victims, the history behind it in Japan, or maybe the director had a connection to leprosy. 

I think the biggest and most touching theme in this movie is human connection ridding one of isolation. Sentaro seems to be very lonely and in pain, drinking himself to the point he collapses on the floor and stuck at a bakery he is indebted. Takue shares a sense of loneliness as well, suffering from Leprosy, no longer having her husband, and being stuck in a home. They come together to establish this connection that bonds one another through the making of food, but they gain a sense of comfort in one another and you see the care for each other grow and grow. We see this in the pain he feels when he learns he has to let her go and when he begins crying over his red bean soup. Takue gifts not only Sentaro the An recipe but also a sense of human connection that allows him to strive for better things, such as opening his own stand. 

Wow, I was way off on the theme and meaning behind the anime from my last post! These half of the assigned episodes allowed me to gain a new perspective. Last time I talked about how this show was revolving around identity and the ability to disconnect from your former self, but even if that might be a small part of that, the larger theme was definitely about the Japanese government. 

In the earlier episodes and the first two episodes assigned for today, they try to show NEETs as useless shut ins that do not contribute to society and, thus will be the reason it falls apart. However, that is not the case. Also, so much hate against NEETs! Off topic, but I think given some of the work cultures in Japan, kinda like in ZOM100, this might skew the opinions of NEETs. Work culture in Japan is very intense and you basically dedicate your life to your work and one company. I liked how this anime tried to humanize NEETs and show that they are people who are still capable of change and are able to contribute to society in different ways, kinda like the reddit thing. 

This anime also kind of reminded me a little bit of Penguindrum. The Sarin gas attacks in 1995 were explained by the government as just being fate with it just being something that will occur and is out of their control. This anime gives me a sense of that, where they believe that fate drives the decisions of the government and they cannot control what happens. However, this is definitely a cop out and just shows the weakness of a government. Not being able to place prevention tactics either before or after an attack like Careless Monday. It just seems like they try to deflect blame from anyone but themselves. 

Eden of the East was a really good show! I found it really interesting and would probably continue to watch it. This show follows Saki and Takizaya through their journey starting in DC to Japan. Saki, at the white house throwing coins for good luck, gets in trouble with the police, until Takizaya shows up naked with a gun and a phone… We discover he has no recollection of who he is, but he knows that his past self willingly wiped his memory. Saki and Takizaya create a bond and return to Japan together, later working together to find out who he is and who he was before his memory was taken from him. We find out that he is what is called a Selecaao. From what I understand, a Selecaao is one that is given the task of saving Japan in any way they see fit, given a phone obtaining 10 billion yen to aid them in their journey. There is a supporter among the select few who holds the right to check the other Selecaao. 

I had a hard time trying to find the themes of this show. One I might run with reconciliation with our past selves and seeing a former self we no longer identify with or understand. Takizawa subconsciously understands some of his past life’s ways, like feeling a sense of nostalgia when turning the key to enter his house or loading the film for the movie. However, he feels completely disconnected from his former self’s life choices and is borderline disgusted and ashamed of his previous actions. Can a person forgive themselves for their past actions if they feel remorse? Is there a level of sympathy and forgiveness we can offer him? I feel like this is often a question we ask whether people can be rehabilitated in such a way or make a 180 in terms of their actions in the past. It’s hard to tell if it’s morally correct to judge and reprimand people for their past mistakes.