angel-is-not-creative

[angel-is-not-creative]

I also made the connection between the NEETs and the way that the students of Class-E are treated. They are treated as less than others when it is clear that they are just people who were left behind in the schooling system and were not given a fighting chance to reach their full potential. We get to see Class-E start to reach this potential once they have a teacher who is actually willing to believe in their abilities and spend time honing them.

Assassination Classroom

The world of Assassination Classroom is fairly ridiculous: a giant yellow octopus that will destroy the world unless a class of middle school students assassinate him while he is the teacher. But, it does have some realistic elements.

The most prominent theme is the discrimination Class E receives from everyone else in the school. Class E is physically separated from the main campus, and the building is of much poorer quality compared to the main building. The chairman of the school even contributes to sustaining this system because he believes that allowing for the other students to look down at Class E will motivate them to do better than them.

However, the role that Class E is forced to take up does not actually correlate to their actual potential. It is only when Korosensei helps to bring out each student’s potential that they begin to perform at the same level as the other classes, eventually overtaking them. This reminds me of Eden of the East where society prevents NEETs from being motivated to be productive through needless degradation of NEETs. It is not until Takizawa that unleashes the potential of the NEETs to save Japan from destruction, similar to Korosensei. Likewise, the school system only facilitates the mindset of being failures in Class E. Also, in order to be recognized by society (the school), Class E is forced to produce results that are dissonant with its assigned role. In this show, the victims of discrimination are responsible for changing their perceived image.

The mission of assassinating Korosensei reinforces the tradition of hegemonic masculinity. Assassination can not happen without violence. We can only hope that the hegemonic masculinity Class E has to embrace will not endure and help perpetuate the system of hegemonic masculinity. In addition, I find it interesting how the government are relying on the younger generation to take care of critical mission that may result in the end of the Anthropocene.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Assassination Classroom

alright I have to start this by being sentimental first. This is the last post we're all gonna be making you guys :( personally I'm sad as this has been like my favorite class ever. It has been so amazing getting to hear from all of you and I've been exposed to so many beautiful pieces of media. This class is forever something I will bring up in any conversation and has made an actual impact on me. I know it is unlikely we will run into each other in the future considering the amount of you that are computer science or engineering majors but I hope my Hetalia blog post made a lasting enough impact in your brain that you may remember me, thanks for putting up with my takes and just being a really fun group of people ❤ (I won't be taking the exam with y'all so Wednesday will be the last time I see you all and I will be sad about it because I'm emotional)

okay now on to the actual show!

I have seen bits and pieces of this show but I've never sat down and watched the whole thing, and I still haven't cause I only had enough time to watch the assigned episodes.

This show has a lot of the same themes of shows that we watched previously. A few that I noticed are Psycho-Pass and Eden of the East. This show and Psycho-pass share the similar theme of "if you tell someone they are something they are bound to become it". Within this show, these kids have been seemingly abandoned by the education system. Every person at this school seems to hate class-E for no apparent reason. They are viewed as violent, dumb, and worthless by every other class and even the educators. They are being set up to fail, and their fate has been set for them at 14.

In regards to Eden of the East, this show also shares the similarity of kinda pinning the responsibility of saving the world on other people (also many of the shows we watch rely on children to save the world like Sailor Moon, Gundam, Evangelion). Despite literally having no faith in Class-E to do anything successfully, they put the fate of the entire planet in their hands. If these kids cannot kill their teacher every single person will die, and yet people still don't seem to be rooting for them.

They also have to work considerably harder to do satisfactorily on exams, as their education in the past has been lacking since no teacher ever gave them a real chance. With everyone against them, they still managed to rank themselves at the same level as Class-A, proving their ability despite what others may believe they are capable of.

Overall I think this was a pretty good watch and I will likely get around to finishing it.

[angel-is-not-creative]

I agree with what you said about the deaths being not that meaningful, I think that Davids death is the only one that made a true impact. Watching him progress from the poor boy who is outside of this display of capitalism to being trapped into this capitalistic mindset and having to continue to push his bodies natural limits with more chrome, eventually leading to his death. I think that this show really does a good job at showing the true long-running impacts of capitalism

This is gonna be a hot take, but I actually don’t like the show that much. I can recognize that it’s still pretty good, but I felt that we weren’t able to spend enough characters to make many of their deaths feel truly meaningful. Pilar’s death really just came out of nowhere, mostly serving as a way to move the plot forward. Also, Maine’s fall into cyber psychosis only occurred during the span of a single episode. If we had gotten to see an entire arc where Maine kept trying to get new implants despite his growing insanity, just like what happened to David in the end, it would make both of their deaths so much more significant. Like I said, I don’t think that show is bad. In fact, the last arc is one of the best pieces of fiction I’ve ever seen, but I’m just sad that the series could have been so much more.

As with nearly all cyberpunk works, the show presents a speculative world that results from late capitalism. When businesses and profit reign supreme, it leads to massive social stratification, as shown by the different lives that David has to live compared to his high-class students. David is forced to pirate, his mother is forced to engage in illegal activities to make a living, and when David’s mother is horribly injured during a crossfire, he isn’t able to pay for her healthcare.

It's also important to note Lucy's desire for exteriority. Her dream is to go to the moon, far away from the capitalist dystopia of Night City, but the moon has simply become a tourist destination for more people to exercise capitalism. When she finally makes it to the moon in the final scene, she isn't happy because it seems as if all her efforts had been for nothing, having lost everyone that was close to her.

The show effectively portrays the harsh realities of a dystopian future where access to basic necessities such as healthcare is determined by wealth and privilege. This portrayal aligns with the cyberpunk genre's overarching theme of societal inequality resulting from uncontrolled capitalism and corporate control. It highlights the vast disparity between the rich and the poor, where the mega-corporations hold immense power, and the lower class struggles to survive, often resorting to illegal activities to make ends meet.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Cyberpunk Edgerunners

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rest in peace David I don't know if I liked you or not.

I saw someone else on here say that they felt like they couldn't really connect to any of the characters because the plot didn't really allow for it and I agree with that. I can't say that I have any strong opinion on any of these characters and most of them ended up dead by the end of it.

I think the show was very good, and it is an excellent critique of a hyper-capitalistic world we could eventually live in. In this world power is literally bought with money, and those with the most money have the most power and therefore the most influence of the world around them. This is made clear when David first fights that rich boy, he has an outstanding amount of chrome and is able to beat up David without any consequences because of his status.

David acquired his first piece of chrome not from paying for it, but from stealing it, making his power not from money, but there is still a price tag behind the piece, and now he has to work for a group that is likely going to get him killed because of how dangerous of lives they live.

There is a lot of violence and death over these pieces of chrome, people are effectively making themselves robots for any semblance of power they can achieve, there is not much logic in replacing your spine with a mechanic one, but in this world, it feels like there is because the power is needed to survive.

If we let technology continue to rule our lives this could very well be the path that we end up on, giving away parts of our bodies, becoming indistinguishable from a robot as opposed to a human. Those without money are treated as less than in society as a whole. If you can't afford insurance then no one is going to rescue you or treat your wounds, you're left to die on the street. Having money will very often be the thing that keeps you alive.

[angel-is-not-creative]

I think one thing that is particularly interesting is that we do see this wonderfully done disintegration of the main characters' mental health, which for me made it all the more surprising that Rumi was the really mentally ill one. I thought that the "second Mima" was going to be a figment of her imagination, or that she was the one who had DID. So I think that the fact that it was Rumi was a really well done misdirect

Perfect Blue

One particularly impressive part of this film is its complicated, step-by-step depiction of the female protagonist's worsening mental state. During the progression of the plot, Mima decides to leave the idol group and change her career as an actress, but it seems like not everyone around her supports this choice of hers, and some among them start to harass, threaten, or even assault her because of this decision she made. While participating in this new career as an actress, she also experienced acting a character very different from the one she was used to during her old idol career. Both the inside and outside pressure enacted on her simultaneously caused the rapid deterioration of her mental state, eventually causing her to become mentally ill. The exhibition of her inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality and the detachment of her feelings from herself and her surroundings could indicate Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder. Traumatic events such as explicit acting and being stalked might cause post-trauma stress disorder, and the constant experience of fear and disorder might be symptoms of her anxiety disorder. Honestly, it appears imaginable to us that simply a career transition would impact one's life so much that it became psychologically impossible for them to finish the transition process. One significant party responsible for Mima's occupational injury is, of course, the entertainment industry, nameable the producers and directors she is working with. In order to exploit the young actress' values to every last drop, they deliberately pushed her into roles that would make her suffer the most chaotic, turbulent, rushed, and hasty precipitate into the most drastically different role their futile brain mass could possibly think of. By causing Mima's mental trauma, they reap the value of her both as a former idol and as an actress. Despite my personal feelings about the methodology, this idea of a business model that exploits others' mental states into rushing cash is really intriguing.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Perfect Blue

⭐⭐⭐⭐+1/2

I had a very hard time distinguishing what was real in this movie and what wasn't. Every time I thought a real scene was happening it would reveal it was acting or a dream. However, what I'm gathering is that Rumi had DID and had been communicating with fans (or this one particular fan) through email and a website. I'm a little unsure as to if any of his interactions with her were real or just stress dreams.

Okay so I know for a fact that Mima is an idol turned actor and that some fans are upset about this. I think that both the creepy stalker man and Rumi show this type of parasocial relationship and unhealthy parts of fan culture. The creepy man, despite not actually knowing Mima felt like he had a right to dictate what she did with her career and was entitled to her attention. Rumi is living vicariously through Mima, so is upset when she goes down a path that doesn't match what she wanted.

At first, the movie paints Rumi as the sympathetic agent who wasn't going to force Mima to do these scenes to further her career, but in reality, she was pushing back on these opportunities because she wanted Mima to stay the same pop idol.

So again, I'm unsure of how many of those scenes with creepy man are real, but it seems like Mima is using these scary thoughts to help her act better or that they are just coming out because she is acting out similar things. It is clear that she herself often dissociates when in uncomfortable scenarios. As an ex-theatre kid, I can tell you how there are times were you have to check yourself out of scenes for your own mental health, and it can be very dangerous to trigger memories like that on stage.

Overall, I think I need to watch this movie again to get a better understanding of it all but it definitely had me on edge the entire time.

[angel-is-not-creative]

I think a big issue is that people are trying to frame war as good guys vs bad guys when in reality, most of the people involved in wars are bad guys. There is no way to defend the atrocities committed by either side but it often makes people feel better about their own identity when they do.

4/16 - Sensoron

I was excited to read Sensoron today. Even though I enjoy anime, I am much more of a manga reader these days - additionally, as someone who is at least marginally interested in history, I found the prospect of a revisionist-history Japanese perspective after World War 2 a very compelling premise. As I went through this work, I found it to bring up some interesting points, but overall it almost seems like a rambling from a bitter conspiracy theorist who just wants to see WW2-era Japan in a more positive light than it deserves.

I found the overall work of Sensoron to be, as mentioned earlier, a great example of revisionism and, at times, flat-out misinformation. Given what the author was trying to communicate, about how 'Japan was treated unfairly' and 'the Allies did bad stuff too' clearly attempts to downplay the atrocities committed by the nation during the war. Instead of taking an objective standpoint and accepting that, while the Allies did do some morally questionable things during the war, Japan is guilty of the same, the author attempts to frame the West as the REAL bad guys, and the root of a grand array of problems in modern Japanese society.

One thing I think the author did not intend to showcase (but does) is the mental gymnastics that he has to go through in order to justify Japan and delegitimize the West. I thought the entire first sequence about the trials and the subsequent Western involvement in Japan was far-fetched, with elements of truth buried in it - but as soon as the author started accusing photos displaying Japanese war crimes as fake, comparing them to UFOs and ghosts, the argument lost any shred of legitimacy. Through these perspectives, Sensoron communicates a perspective that is unhinged at best and deliberately deceptive at worst.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Sensoron

I'm not giving this a rating

So, I've never read Sensoron before however, I had heard of it before. This manga has been compared to Hetalia when talking about Japanese nationalism. However, I think this is a very unfair comparison as the two are very different and portray this nationalism in very different ways.

Sensoron seems to be trying to send a few messages, but it starts off with a (what is supposed to be but is not) funny scene where the main guy covers up his "crimes" through lying. This, I assume, is meant to represent how other countries covered up their own crimes by framing Japan as the only bad guy.

It also seems to be very pro-war, which is an odd take for sure. It seems to me that the author believes that we need war in order to have a sense of civic duty. Like war shapes us into better citizens who appreciate our country more so we should encourage it for future generations. What is so wrong with children who don't know war? Isn't that something we should be aiming for?

While I can agree that there are a lot of fake sources out there and that there does need to be some fact-checking done before you just start presenting things to people. I don't believe that staged photos of war discredit the lives lost or the tragedies committed. Like sure maybe this photo of dead people is fake or from a different time but that doesn't mean that there weren't piles of dead people during the war.

Obviously, no one country can be blamed for the event of war as every country involved played a role in the killing of innocent people. . However, this also means that no one country can be dissolved of their blame. Both America and Japan took part in the war and that resulted in many casualties for both sides, both should be criticized, including by their own citizens.

[angel-is-not-creative]

You know, I didn't even see the parallels to how different of lives they live. It makes sense considering how hard Taki works for his money and is hesitant to spend it while Mitsuha is more used to working for her family and not having to worry about a traditional job or how much money she is spending. Yet despite their very different lives, they still manage to come together and find each other.

Your name

I think this anime is a top contender for my favorite anime of the semester.

The storytelling and visuals were beautiful… especially the ending! The ending had me HOOKED… it could have ended so many times and I would have had a totally different reaction to each end. I had to keep checking the time thingy to make sure the movie wasn’t ending just yet.

While watching the anime I felt like there were heavy themes of tradition and modernization.

Mitsuha lives a more traditional lifestyle, being raised in a small town where everyone knows everyone. Mitsuha feels trapped and wishes that she could live in the more modernized Tokyo. In Itomori, tradition is upheld in the form of a festival that happens every year. Mitsuha’s grandmother explains the traditional ideals, saying: “The meaning of our festivals became unknown and only the form live on. But even if words are lost, tradition should be handed down.” This is a very conservative way of thinking, in the sense that traditions (like the festival) are kept to conserve the culture of the past, even though modern-day partakers don’t even understand the significance.

On the flip side, Taki is living a modernized life in the big city of Tokyo. He gets to go to a big high school and works as a waiter in a restaurant. He has endless opportunities in the big city and isn’t constrained like Mitsuha is in her small town. More interestingly, Mitsuha specifically wishes to be a boy living in Tokyo when yelling out her frustrations, while Taki never expressed any disdain towards his city lifestyle.

These parallels could represent the conservative ideas of femininity and masculinity, being that the feminine role follows and respects tradition (ex. Traditional housewife and caretaker), while the masculine role is freer to adapt with modernization.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Your Name

SUB/DUB

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just got back from a chem test that I definitely failed but hey at least this movie was good.

Honestly, when it comes to themes I'm not sure exactly what we were meant to get out of this. Obviously a very different vibe from Hetalia.

One thing I enjoyed was the fate aspect of the movie. Almost like everything in our lives is already planned out for us and we are just to sit back and watch it unfold. We don't know who or what we are looking for in this life, and it is likely we will only know when we see them for the first time. There is something so beautiful about how they continue to find each other throughout their lives.

I'll be honest I thought the girl died at the end so I was a little confused at the time jump but I'm guessing they somehow saved the town despite us seeing the explosion? Not exactly sure there but I did like them trying to convince people that there was going to be a strike on the town and that they needed to leave just for no one to listen to them.

I also got a sense of like "what does it mean to be you" because they were switching bodies but despite what body they were in, it was their mentality that made them individuals. It is what allowed for the people around them to notice that something was going on.

I think this movie simultaneously showed that time is an illusion and can be changed as we see fit, but also that there are some things that are just unavoidable and you may be able to run away from them but it is still their and eventually the universe will make you confront those things.

Not very deep this time sorry ya'll but I need to sleep after that exam I'm a potato.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Okay I wanted to respond to this post specifically for a few reasons. So you've either seen the show or just looked up Hetalia's female characters because Ukraine doesn't show up until episode 42, but I don't think your description of her is incorrect (she is described by Russia as being a crybaby). However, Hungary and later introduced characters like Belgium certainly have a more assertive personalities. Hungary is actually described to be the manliest character when angered. Though I think this pushes the idea that you have to be strong to be masculine and take part in war.

France and Spain share a similar predator stereotype that is very harmful and is perpetrated throughout the show.

Many people still hold the belief that America should have been Native America instead of White as Native People are the ones who were here when this land was colonized (as we see happen when England finds young America in the bush). However, considering Himaruyas depiction of other races I'm not sure how well that would have turned out.

Hetalia Axis Powers  (S1 Ep. 1–19)

One of the most prominent issues addressed in Hetalia Axis Powers is nationalism and its role in fueling conflicts and tensions between countries. The characters in the show show exaggerated versions of the stereotypes associated with their respective nations, highlighting the ways in which nationalism can lead to harmful and divisive attitudes. For example, in episode 1, Germany becomes increasingly frustrated with Italy's perceived laziness and lack of discipline, embodying the idea of German superiority and the Nazi ideology that led to World War II. The show also touches on issues of imperialism and colonialism, particularly in the characterizations of England and America and their relationships with their former colonies. Another problem that is represented in Hetalia Axis Powers is the issue of cultural stereotypes and the way they can reinforce prejudice and discrimination. While the show does make jokes about various cultures and nationalities, it also shows the ways in which these stereotypes can be harmful and perpetuate harmful ideas. For example, in episode 3, the character of France is portrayed as being overly flirtatious and aggressive towards women, perpetuating the idea that French men are inherently sexual predators. Similarly, in episode 9, Japan is portrayed as being overly obsessed with anime and manga, reinforcing the stereotype that all Japanese people are otakus. Gender stereotypes are also addressed in the show, particularly in the way in which it portrays male and female characters. While male characters like America and Russia are often depicted as powerful and dominant, female characters like Hungary and Ukraine are portrayed as more passive and subservient. This reinforces the idea that men are supposed to be strong and assertive, while women are supposed to be nurturing and accommodating. Finally, the show also represents the issue of cultural appropriation and the way that dominant cultures can appropriate and exploit the cultural practices of marginalized groups. In episode 13, the character of America is depicted as trying to appropriate and commercialize traditional Native American culture, reflecting the way that Western societies have often taken from and exploited the cultures of indigenous people.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Hetalia

I cannot rate this with a good conscience ❤

I have autism and Hetalia is my special interest so this is literally 3k words long and I have absolutely no regrets. I could have gone on longer but I wanted to remain relevant to the class. If you don't reply to me I will cry.

I'm gonna break this into a few sections so you can skip around. I'm going to try and stick to just season 1 with this discussion, which won't be too hard cause it's the most insane one. Also, I just want to say that I wrote this all before I read the attached article and I'm now seeing that I literally could have written that article because I know everything about Hetalia.

When do we cross the line between stereotyping and just straight-up racism?

Hey, why are we idolizing WWII Germany?

Oh, we are portraying war as silly and funny, okay cool.

Is this Japanese Nationalism? (a surprisingly controversial argument)

The Sub and the Dub are 2 totally different shows

The Fandom (and linking back to other class-related terms)

Okay I'll name one good thing

Alright, let's get started.

1.

A lot of people will argue that Hetalia is not racist at all because they are making fun of everyone. If you are portraying all of the countries as their most common stereotypes then it evens out in the end. I would argue that this is in fact, not the case. Especially when you set your show during WWII. I will give Himaruya credit in that he mostly focuses on European countries to make fun of, making a lot of the stereotypes less so targeted at minorities. However, a lot of these jokes are still highly insensitive and frame some countries in a worse light than others

Just look at the difference between how Northern Italy is portrayed as opposed to Germany or Japan. Or how France is a predator, Belarus is into her literal brother, and Spain is seen as a creep. It is often times mocking an entire country's intelligence, appearance, or personality. While it is not always that serious, it does lead me to the second point.

When you personify a country and mock it, you aren't just mocking a piece of land, you are mocking an entire population of people. These jokes may seem harmless but they can still be hurtful. While I don't believe that liking Hetalia translates to your actual views on world events, it can unconsciously impact your real-life thoughts and behaviors.

(also why does Britain see imaginary magical creatures, what is that referencing? According to the wiki, it is some popular folklore story of a rabbit who lives on the moon but like.. what? If Himaruya was doing this much research into these countries' cultural backgrounds why is he portraying them like this?)

2.

This show portrays WWII Germany in too positive of a light for my liking. I've noticed a trend in anime where they seem to love Germany (or Germanic aesthetics) a lot (AOT I'm looking at you). Now I'm not well-versed in the interpersonal relationships between Japan and Germany, but the idolization is not it. The way that Japan in this show is portrayed as being literally obsessed with Germany is the biggest example (Italy is also shown having an immense appreciation for Germany and is often gushing about his positive qualities, even writing him a song while he was being kept prisoner). But I mean look at how Germany is portrayed, even his stereotypes are mostly positive, he is hardworking but helps out his fellow allies, makes great food, and is super strong. His only negative trait is that he sometimes doesn't understand social scenarios and that makes him very awkward. However, he will always go out of his way to try and better understand his friends (like Italy) by purchasing books to try and help him learn the appropriate way to act in scenarios).

This is 10x worse in the dub but we will get there. When one of your main characters, the one you are portraying in the best light, is a literal war criminal hot anime boy, you can understand why I would be concerned. I mean they gave him the whole blonde hair blue eyed appearance like come on. Now I'm not going to go into depth on fandom or anything here but Hetalia knows that its demographic is young tweens (primarily girls) so how can you be surprised when this portrayal of Germany leads to WWII fanfics sympathizing with Germany and 14 y/o girls in German military uniforms doing questionable things. (also Germany becomes a canonically gay character in Hetalia in like season 4 or something and that just makes me so mad, like yeah, of course, the gay character is WWII Germany that so cool) (okay, I would like to clarify that technically Sweden is the only confirmed gay character. Sweden is bad representation though because he has one-sided feelings for Finland and makes him uncomfortable by constantly referring to him as his wife)

3.

I mean yeah, obviously this isn't going to be an accurate portrayal of history but some of this is just totally misinformation.

Austria invading Germany is literally just Austria annoying him in his house for a really long time. But also there's like actual wars... and like all of the events of WWI are canon... and like there are some really serious episodes

Also, we literally see a bunch of countries going to war personally, like fighting on the frontlines. Which to me confirms that these people are all literal murderers, like mass murderers lowkey.

Do you know how many weird USSR jokes there are throughout this? So many. Lithuania is pretty much just in a running gag where he keeps getting manipulated by Russia into coming back to live with him. (Yeah, there are so many USSR fics as well).

ALSO! why is the American revolution portrayed as the saddest thing to happen thus far, the storyline is stretched out from episodes 16-20 and it is all drastically different from the tone of the rest of the show. Britain is literally on his knees crying saying that he can't shoot America (which also implies these countries can physically harm/kill each other). Like that is the war you wanted to make all sad and sentimental? Why? Is this how Japanese people think that we view the Revolutionary war? Because that is a pretty inaccurate view.

Anyways back to the original point. Some historical events should not be played for laughs sometimes. It is incredibly disrespectful for actual victims of these tragedies to portray these events as funny or goofy.

Though I will give credit because Himaruya does make all sides of the war look like idiots who have no clue what they are doing, which is a sentiment I can get behind.

4.

As a both non-Japanese and non-Korean person I can not really give my opinion on this however I can share with you both sides of the argument. This is mostly in relation to the original comic strip, but has some relevance to the anime as well. I just wanted to bring it up because it is interesting to me. (This is briefly mentioned in the article but I wanted to expand on the argument).

You may or may not have noticed that there is no South Korea character in this show, however, there was in the original comic. In the comics, South Korea is a pervert who is constantly touching Japan and he also takes credit for the inventions of other countries. Now I'm obviously not going to go into the past history of these 2 countries because that would be incredibly long but the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia and determined that it was a "crime against South Koreans, akin to slander". So yeah, South Korean people were not happy with this portrayal and the character was inevitably removed from the anime before release. (This is a real picture of the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia, the corner shows South Korea groping Japan inappropriately)

There are two opposing views to the Japanese Nationalism take and I'll link them both (Belittling Japanese Nationalism Hetalia: Axis Powers is the title of the first one)

The first one pretty much argues that Hetalis is not Japanese nationalism because it paints Japan in just as negative of a light as all of the other countries, no one is left out of being made fun of. Japan is seen as socially awkward, emotionally repressed, and obsequious.

The second argues that Japan is often shown to be more intelligent than other characters as well as often being of the voice of reason (especially compared to China) and most of his negative attributes are not nearly as harmful as some others in Japan’s case, even his “negative” stereotypes are inoffensive, as they pose no threat of meiwaku.

I think we see in the dub that Americans are a little more willing to make fun of themselves. Though there are a few good Japan self digs, like the capitalism joke in one of the first episodes.

5.

Oh boy I've been waiting for this.

The dub is 10x more offensive than the sub. Most people consider it a crack dub.

So many of the jokes are rewritten that it is practically a different show. The sub is from a Japanese perspective and the dub is from an American perspective.

First of all the accents in the dub are so bad like it is actually atrocious. Japan is really annoying because not only is his voice stereotypical but he always says 'nani?' instead of 'what?' as if that is a normal thing that people do. The narrator is the best part of the dub and she is hilarious.

So I don't really feel comfortable even typing out the jokes here so if you want to hear them I included the time stamps for the three nazi jokes I remember in season 1 (the last two being worse).

Episode 1 (1:35:1:38)

Episode 7 (2:13-2:19)

Episode 48 (1:28-1:31)

Those are just a few examples and it gets worse. The dub literally had no reason to include these jokes because there is not even an insinuation of them in the sub and it makes literally everything a million times worse.

I will give the dub some credit for being so utterly ridiculous that it's funny. I will provide a few timestamps for the funniest jokes that only appear in the dub from the first 19 episodes (but I really recommend looking up Hetalia dub funny moments on youtube because some of them are really priceless):

Episode 13: (1:45-2:05)

Episode 14: (1:12-1:22)

Episode 17: (0:59-1:15) (2:06-2:11)

6.

Now I've had this post typed up for a bit and originally I wasn't going to talk about the fandom but after reading the article that he assigned (and going through the fandom unit), I see that there is a lot of reference to fandom in particular so I want to at least mention it.

Not the 2 biggest problems with the Hetalia fandom are racism and the fetishization of gay men.

As mentioned in the article, there have actually been multiple fan incidents of them dressing up in WWII German military uniforms Germany/Prussia cosplay, and standing in front of temples with fake guns or doing nazi salutes in convention photos (If we want to bring racism and fetishization of gay men together there were two people who kissed in a holocaust memorial museum in Italy and Germany cosplay... there is no picture of this so it might be a rumor but it was well-known so it is worth mentioning). There were also a lot of people using imperialist Japan flags in cosplay/fanart and writing incredibly inappropriate fanfiction about real-life events.

If you would like to see any of these incidents feel free to look up "Hetalia the Boston Incident" I don't really wanna include the photos here.

The fetishization is not unique to the Hetalia fandom, but it is amplified to the max. Obviously, within Hetalia, there are almost no female characters, so this leaves only male characters to be shipped with one another. Now suddenly Germany is an uwu gay bean and not an actual war criminal. At the moment of writing this Hetalia has 32105 M/M fics on ao3 which is only one of the three fanfiction sites, with ao3 not even becoming popularized until after the peak of the Hetalia fandom. (the most popular ship being America/England who refer to each other as brothers in the show as England raised America, showing another problematic part of the fandom). I would argue that Hetalia has one of the gayest fandoms (My Hero Academia is giving it a run for its money though) and I agree with the article that it is inaccurate to say that this is only done by straight cis women. The fact of the matter is a lot of queer teens used Hetalia as an outlet to express their own sexuality through these characters. The straight women that do fetishize BL are likely only doing so because anime creators suck at writing good female characters.

I think that the "level of gayness" turns straight fans away from watching the show (again MHA is the same way today) as it is hard to interact with the fandom without seeing some yaoi content. However, many people view this as something wrong or cringy, when in reality it is a normal part of fandom culture. When gay people have such little content that is actually gay, you cannot blame us for creating our own through characters that we like/relate to. Again, I think the only issues that arise here are the problematic ships that give young people a bad impression of relationships (abusive, incest, pedophilia, etc) or the arguable problematic ones like China/Russia or Lithuania/Russia as again these are real countries with real political relations. (However, I will never forget the time that there was Russia/China fanart on the news, maybe they approve and I shouldn't be complaining)

The thing is, Hetalia only seems so bad because the fandom is so large and so young. A lot of shows have fandoms that sexualize the characters and have kinda problematic fans, but the sheer volume makes things seem worse. This is something that we covered when we watched Genshiken, but there is a lot of negative stigma behind this fandom in particular, but it is just a loud minority that gets a lot of news coverage between fandoms.

It also raises the question "Is a show responsible for the response of its fans?"

Because while Himaruya has no control over what people do with his characters or how they interpret a plot, if a majority of people are leaving your show spouting vaguely racist rhetoric and interpreting your show one way, isn't there some validity in that interpretation? I think a creator has to be aware of their audience, which in this case is a very young and impressionable audience who might not understand how offensive some of the things they are doing really are. They don't hold the same ability to separate fiction from reality.

That being said Hetalia had a large impact on fandom culture as a whole, largely starting things like 'ask a character' panels (along with like homestuck but we don't talk about her). If you go to any convention you will probably find a Hetalia cosplayer, and if you watch any dub there is probably a voice actor from Hetalia there.

I also want to mention Hetalia is also a fandom full of cultural capital, If you don't know every niche fact, you're not a real fan, If you haven't read Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart you haven't even met the entry-level requirements to be a fan. There are also no characters that are too sacred to be altered within the fandom. If you want to put Germany in a maid dress have at it, if you want to see all the characters as girls you're in luck cause Himaruya literally drew them. Fanfictions can take place anywhere from WWI to the present day and you can put any characters in any scenario and make it believable. There are thousands of pieces of fanwork, fan art, fangames, and fan AUs. These characters are malleable to fit your personal preference and there is really no way you could be mad at this as Himaruya does this himself, with no real established canon.

a Hetalia fan once said, "No one cares if Hetalia was written by a Japenese Imperialism apologist when you're 31 chapters deep into a human Au soulmate fic about Austria inviting Prussia to see his boyband perform in Berlin"

Himaruya is also the king of moe characteristics because he turned these Hetalia men into any cute thing he could think of, Chibi versions (Chibitalia), female versions (Nyotalia), and cat versions (Nekotalia). He has no reservations about drawing the characters in a dress or in cat ears. He gave the characters human names to allow for more standardized human AU's and made a DS dating game. He encourages fans to take his characters and use them in their fanworks as they see fit, canon is up to interpretation itself. I think Himaruya himself was a huge part of fandom culture (not that I could tell you cause no one knows anything about the guy) and saw how the female characters were often treated by fans and turned it on its head, allowing for females to sexualize the males this time.

Also, none of the male characters in this show resembles a Hegemonic form of masculinity. Even the most masculine character in the show (Germany) can be seen doing more "feminine things" like wearing a dress or proposing to a man. Which, you know, I guess is a good diversion from things you would typically see in an anime of this nature (but again there are a lot of instances of characters being feminine being played for laughs, like a man being girly is something inherently funny). Feat. Germany proposing to Italy with a tomato ring.

7.

I am Hetalia's biggest hater, however, I cannot deny the impact that it has had on my life and how much I love to talk about it. Hetalia is what introduced me to anime and fandom (and tumblr) for the first time. I met a lot of people I still talk to today because of this show. It encouraged me and a lot of other people to actually get interested in history. Thanks to this show I can identify every country in Europe, and it was a lot easier to remember historical facts if I just imagined the Hetalia characters. Also, Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart is a literary masterpiece and there is a reason it almost has a five-star rating on goodnotes (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22064556) I love you George DeValier I hope you're doing good wherever you are.

I would like to make it abundantly clear that despite everything I've said that might make me sound like a woke blue-haired liberal, I don't really think this show is some horribly racist show or that the people who enjoy it are racist. I just wanted to provide a deeper outlook on the impact a seemingly dumb show can have on real people. I can't really blame the show for the terrible response of the fandom and it did honestly get better in later seasons that are not focused on WWII.

Despite all the bad stuff, it is a relatively funny little 5-minute watch, and you can really just jump in at any point you want to. If you don't take it as seriously as I do you might even enjoy it a little.

If you actually read this far I have major respect for you, I'm really excited to see what the general consensus on this show is.

Prussia and South Italy were my favorites in case anyone cared

If you're wondering why I didn't do my presentation on Hetalia despite my extensive knowledge, it is because I would be incredibly biased and I would go off the rails I think.

Also, my biggest fear is current Hetalia fans finding this and killing me, that might seem irrational but the Gundam fans found me last time so I wouldn't put it past them.

[angel-is-not-creative]

I'm interested to see your presentation because I'm not sure I fully digested the plot. The role of god aspect should have probably been more clear to me with how the ending played out. The plan of wanting to end (or even save the entire world) are incredibly linked in delusion and this need for power and control in every aspect of life.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

As I am presenting on this set of videos for the game Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I won’t give away too much of the information being talked about tomorrow. I will be talking about one of the themes which is the delusions of grandeur. In the 24th video of the playlist, we start off with seeing a room of scientists and analysts attempting to regain balance from the war waging outside the station. It then cuts to the professor who is experimenting on the Conduit talking about how creating a new universe and new life is something only a god could do but now he will be able to achieve the same. This seemingly is pushing his human agenda of wanting to have the ultimate power and wanting to play the role of god. Towards the end we see however that this professor regrets doing what he did as it caused suffering for all his people and it brought to light just the vastness of the universes and how even by creating what he did there was no way to escape the overwhelming power of who or whatever is out there in the great beyond. We can see this coming into play in the real world all to often with many powerhouse countries and wealthy people feeling as though they have the ultimate power and decision over life and death of the vast majority of people. Without getting political we can see countries building nukes and waging war in order to fulfill the idea that they deserve to be in control of everyone when in reality they are just someone filling a spot in the grand timeline of the world’s lifespan. Overall we have seen world leaders attempt to play the role of god and we know that with humanity being built the way it was, no one person should hold all the power as no single person has the best intentions for everyone. In the reading when talking about alchemy and the role it can play we read “It shows how alchemy in its many forms was just as empirical in its orientation as the mechanical or materialist forms of science that eventually triumphed. The main difference was that practitioners of alchemy believed that the secrets of nature represented an underlying divine unity that was manifest in the material world. Mechanical science was equally theological, but it posited that God was distant from nature, denying that nature itself might hold meaning." Overall now I want to play the game....

[angel-is-not-creative]

Xenoblade Chronicles

(not sure what rating I would give this tbh)

Guys... this is the last post until Hetalia... I don't think you're ready for the blog post I'm about to drop on Friday.

Anyways lets talk about the actual topic at hand.

So I've never heard of this game before so I'm just going off first impressions here.

So on the environmental theme of the last watch, it seems to have some message about the environment within the existence of these Titans. It is made clear that the natural producing land is dwindling and people are relying on the backs of these Titans. However, we see at the beginning that these Titans are dying as well. I'm a little unclear as to whether this was happening naturally or caused by humans, but I would go ahead and bet on the latter of those two.

The protagonist Rex is a pretty middle of the road male fighting protagonist. Unlike some of the characters we have seen in other animes, he is very willing to fight. There are times where he stubbornly insists on fighting even if it may not be the best for the scenario. I mean dude literally gets stabbed at the start of the game, so maybe his self-preservation skills aren't quite on lock.

I think the blades are interesting. They offer an interesting perspective on identity and what it means to be human. The blades appear mostly human looking and interact in mostly human ways. However, they are attached to their Driver and if the Driver dies, their memory is erased. This makes sure that the blades are never able to develop personalities or make connections, as their memory is constantly being wiped of any past experience they may have had. This forces them to be dedicated to their current Driver and continue to fulfill their purpose until eventually becoming Titans.

I also found Malos' admission to not even knowing if it was his wish to destroy the world is his own. He points to Jin, blaming him for implanting these thoughts into his brain. I think this is almost indicative of how hateful people are able to get people without hope into believing in these harmful messages. "Oh, you don't believe the world can get better? Okay, let's just destroy the whole thing then!"

Idk if I took away the right stuff or if I really understood but yeah... I'm excited for Monday hehe :)

[angel-is-not-creative]

I'm not sure if we have to reply to a swampcon blog post but I'm doing it anyways. One of my favorite aspects of fandom, and something I saw heavily at the con is how people will take characters and make them their own. I saw a lot of cosplays that had been edited to match a person's style and a lot of the art was similar. One thing that stood out to me was in the artist alley, one of the only things sold out at this one table was an erasermic pin (a ship between Present Mic and Eraserhead from My Hero Academia) in canon they are just like close childhood friends but the fandom has collectively agreed that they are in love, and sold out the pin incredibly quick. There were other examples like this within the artist's alley as well, I enjoyed seeing professional-looking art drawing characters in ways they would never be portrayed in canon.

(Also your cosplay was so cute I enjoyed seeing flashes of you throughout the day)

SWAMPCON 2023 <3

I want to start this blog post talking about my time at SwampCon 2023!! WOO! As a volunteer, I was scared that I was not going to be able to enjoy the convention like everyone else, but I was mistaken. I still got to enjoy the vendors, shows, and cosplays!

I loved walking around the Reitz and seeing so many people dressed up in their favorite characters. Everyone was so sweet and kind! I love the atmosphere that conventions bring. Just folk coming together to consume the things they love. Additionally, the vendors were awesome. You could buy fantastic works of art, jewelry, clothes, etc. from talented creators. There was one shop that sold the cutest earrings! XoX.

Anyway getting back on track, the drag show, cospoi show, and maid cafe were my favorite parts of the convention. Starting with the drag show, I just love how creative and fun the shows and outfits were! For example, one of the queens were dressed up as a game character and used a large mouse prop to imitate gameplay, which I thought was really cool. The cospoi show was so unlike anything that I have ever seen before; It was amazing! The music and the theatrics were beautiful and I would definitely attend again. I especially like the glowing balls that they swung with the music. Lastly (and most certainly not least), the maid cafe was so cute! You could order cakes and drinks while the maids performed a dance for the guests. The atmosphere was so chill. One more thing that I really enjoyed at the convention was the drum game they had in the U.R.G.E room. You would have to hit a drum to the beat of the music. My boyfriend and I had a blast in there.

If I could add something to the convention to make it better, it would be to add more decorations around the Reitz. If there weren’t so many people in cosplay, you would not be able to tell that there was a convention going on in the Reitz. It was plain. I wish there were more SwampCon decorations around the building.

I briefly talked about consumption above, and want to expand on that discussion. In class we talked about the unofficial/shadow culture capital, otaku, fandoms, etc. and I want to apply these concepts to my time at SwampCon. The convention allows fans ( in this case mostly fans of anime) to come together and personalize a piece of fictional anime. An example of this in its most simple form would have to be cosplay. Cosplay is an outward expression of a fan’s love for a certain piece of fiction, and allows them to ‘give love’ back to that show. Additionally, the vendors were also contributing to the otaku culture that accumulates at conventions such as at SwampCon. These artists create pieces of work that allow them to portray their view of a show however they see fit. For example, one amazing artist had artwork of two characters from Danganronpa kissing (which is awesome). In this manner, it is similar to doujinshi.

I want to also discuss the spread and use of unofficial culture capital at the convention. I went to the convention with my boyfriend and my friend Riley, who has not watched any anime. I was able to talk with other convention attendees about a show and spread shadow culture capital with them, but my friend Riley had a hard time since she hasn’t accumulated any unofficial culture capital about anime. After the convention, she was finally convinced to watch anime (WIN).

I enjoyed my weekend very much at the convention and will certainly be attending next year!

[angel-is-not-creative]

I think that the Tolmekian army (Princess Kushana in particular) represents a form of hegemonic masculinity we saw similar to Asuka. She is violent and courageous, she isn't scared to enter battle or kill people. Nausicaa is very different in comparison because even though she will always fight for her valley, she will always look for a peaceful solution first. She is much more thoughtful and considerate than the Army she fights.

RUMBLING, RUMBLING, IT'S COMING

As with every Ghibli movie I’ve seen, this movie is good, but it didn’t really hit that different. My favorite thing about Nausicaa is seeing the backgrounds and the vast, beautifully-drawn landscapes. It really pulls me into this crazy world where humans do everything they can to survive against vicious insects and a toxic forest.

The movie is a clear reflection of Miyazaki's deep concern for the environment. The toxic jungle in the film represents the environmental crisis that the world is facing, with the overuse of fossil fuels and pollution leading to irreversible damage to the planet. Nature has essentially turned the tables, reflecting how industrialized humanity irreparably damaged the world and destroyed many animals’ ecosystems. Now, humanity must experience the same displacement as many past species that have faced potential extinction.

Nausicaa's character embodies the values of environmentalism. She is a peaceful and empathetic leader who values all life forms and understands the importance of living in harmony with nature. Throughout the film, she works to bridge the gap between humans and nature, finding ways to coexist rather than dominate. The movie also touches on the issue of war and its impact on the environment. The Tolmekian army, led by the ruthless Princess Kushana, seeks to destroy the toxic jungle by any means necessary, including the use of deadly weapons. This blind pursuit of power and destruction is a clear warning against the dangers of militarism and the need for peaceful solutions to environmental problems. Now that I think about it, a lot of Ghibli movies critique war.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

I loved the environmental aspect of this movie, and I think that is what differentiates this movie significantly from other war-type movies we have watched in the past.

I really enjoyed Nausicaa as a protagonist and I think that she is constantly able to think rationally and do what is best for her Valley. It's refreshing to see how much she cares for the nature around her and how she puts effort into caring for the creatures and growing plants of her own.

As a princess, she does not have to do all the things she does, like journey out into the Sea of Decay, she could just give orders from the comfort of a tower, but instead, she puts in a great deal of effort to protect her valley. She is willing to put herself into dangerous situations for the sake of the people she is governing.

At the surface level, Nausicaa might seem like a naive pacifist, but in reality, she is fully aware of the violence of the world and is able to make violent decisions when it is necessary. She finds no joy in these actions but understands that she needs to do them, however, she never does so unnecessarily and will always result in another form of conflict resolution first.

In the end, Nausicaa is able to end the rage not by an act of violence, but by sacrificing her life to the creatures. She was more than willing to give up her life to save the valley, and to make sure the humans stopped fighting the creatures. Because of her kindness in the past to the creatures, she is brought back to life, bringing hope of human survival in any circumstance.

(a little short this time around but just you wait til next Monday)