justanother-randomhuman

[justanother-randomhuman]

Spoilers: Eggers' Nosferatu

There's a lot of debate right now on if Count Orlok represents Ellen's shame/trauma/abuse, or if he represents her repressed erotic desires, and in turn there's debate on whether or not viewers who find the Ellen/Orlok dynamic alluring are "missing the point." Eggers and Lily-Rose Depp have both said in interviews that there's a mutual pull between Ellen and Orlok, and even that there's a love triangle element, but obviously the experience is terrifying for Ellen. How can we reconcile the sexual tension and the horror?

I think the broader theme is that Orlok represents everything in a woman's inner world that men refuse to acknowledge and accept - fear and shame and trauma, yes, but also our appetites . After the prologue, the story starts with Ellen begging Thomas to stay in bed with her; she says "the honeymoon was yet too short" and tries to pull him in and kiss him (obviously trying to start some nuptial bliss). But Thomas is anxious to meet with his boss and get his promotion, because he has a narrative he's going to fulfill: he's going to pay Friedrich back, buy a house, and then start having kids (he and Friedrich touch on this a bit later. Notably, Friedrich discloses Anna's pregnancy to Thomas before Anna has made it public.)

It's the start of Ellen and Thomas' married life and she just wants him to prioritize her sexual desire, but he chooses to focus on his ideal of success, which sets him on this path to confronting Orlok. We know Ellen doesn't care about having a house or fine things and she begs him not to go, but Thomas listens to Herr Knock and Friedrich, who tell him that as a husband he has to provide materially. He ignores Ellen's stated desires, and so fails to provide sexually and emotionally. When Thomas gaslights her about her nightmares and calls them childish fancies, he shuts down her vulnerability, which kills the intimacy she was enjoying in the literal honeymoon phase.

On a related note, there's a defence in here for Aaron Taylor Johnson's performance, which I've seen a few male critics call "over acting." In this story Friedrich represents the masculine ideal of the time, he's a rich business owner with a beautiful wife and kids. Thomas clearly looks up to him and wants to emulate him - he wants to give Ellen the life "she deserves." But Friedrich's elevated masculine status is why he refuses to listen to Ellen's "hysterical, sentimental" worries, he's too rational for all that of course. And his stubborn "rationality" leads to the death of his entire family. Friedrich IS the patriarchal ideal that crumbles when confronted with nuance and uncertainty. Some people see Friedrich and assume that a character like him is meant to come across as dignified, and that Aaron Taylor Johnson is messing up by making him look annoying, but really he is giving a great portrayal of a really common, annoying kind of guy. The kind of guy who melts down and has childish tantrums whenever they lose control of a situation, or their manly skills and values are shown to be irrelevant.

The men in the movie (excluding Professor von Franz) frame Ellen as childish for speaking about her dreams candidly, but their own childishness is revealed when her dreams manifest in the form of Orlok and become unavoidable. Ellen (partially? possessed in the moment by Orlok) tells Thomas how "foolish and like a child" he was in Orlok's castle. In the literal context that's cruel, and obviously that shit was scary as hell, but it hits on Thomas' failure in the metaphorical reading. He was a child playing house: 'I'll be the husband and make money, you be the wife and make babies.' When it came time to confront his wife's inner world and all the scary, traumatized, lustful complexity of it, he was completely inept. The message isn't that Orlok is what Ellen really needs, or that Thomas is a wimp, but he's not a perfect husband either. I think "the point" is that a real healthy marriage with sexual, emotional, and spiritual mutuality is impossible in that society with Thomas/Friedrich's ideals. In that kind of society, a spiritually and sexually potent woman like Ellen ("in heathen times you might have been a Priestess of Isis") will always be caught in a "love triangle" with her husband and her own inner world.

[justanother-randomhuman]

yes yes orlok as the grotesque manifestation of ellen’s hideous lust, monsterfucking blah blah blah. Hot.

But thomas… the lover that witnesses.. accepts… soothes… He saw her at her most depraved and still held her… you guys. He was the only other person who had *seen* what she saw in her dreams. He was there in that castle… was inflicted by orlok’s perversions. In the flesh. Still he made it home. Then he watched her, frothing at the mouth and shaking in demonic fury, to then crawling and begging at his waist for mercy, then a moment laters she’s looking up at him with the very devil in her eyes and tongue… and still, he held her! As she truly sobbed. He told her it was okay, that he had seen it too. Continued to love her as his woman, descend to hell and destroy the demon for her. And Ellen loved him too! She says she felt he was sent to her, made her feel normal and okay. Her salvation. A love that feels like depollution… to be so inspired by your love for somebody that for them you go, willing, to the altar as a sacrificial lamb. Her love for him gave her purpose! I love them… not orlok nor any contract could ever dissolve the bond between them.

[justanother-randomhuman]

People not comprehending Nosferatu correctly might kill me. Yes it's erotic and about pleasure but yes it's devastating and about child sexual abuse. It's a movie about victimhood, about being already dead, about longing for the great beyond, about never feeling safe from your abuser, about always expecting one more rape must be endured. It is about being an ugly victim, a neurotic victim. About your supposed allies tying you down for fear you will rip their world to ribbons. It is about facing the abuser, facing the pleasure the abuser brought. It is about men seeking to silence a plague in the quiet of the night when grooming and abuse can only be destroyed by pulling it into the light of morning.

[justanother-randomhuman]

Bravo also to Robert Eggers for probably the least bad depiction of Transylvania in Western vampire cinematic history:

1. Having actual Romanian actors doing the dialogue in Romanian. You'd think this is a low bar to clear but nope.

2. High quality costume design that looks pretty accurate to 19th century Romanian and Roma peasantry, even down to specific braided hairstyles from the Transylvanian region.

3. Depiction of Roma people but refrains from having them as some typical Hollywood exoticizing role like a magical fortune teller etc. They're in like half a scene, just chilling and playing music in front of an inn.

4. Use of the word "strigoi" which are actual spirits in Romanian folklore, unlike the term "vampire" which didn't exist in Romania.

5. Sorry to the Nosferatu moustache haters, but a Romanian nobleman would have had that exact facial hair.

6. Depiction of religion (nuns, churches) that actually looks like Eastern Orthodoxy and not some vaguely spooky goth Christianity.

[justanother-randomhuman]

Merry 2000 Trained Rats, everybody

[justanother-randomhuman]

[justanother-randomhuman]

MahoAku | Ep11 | Conversely, you should’ve told me before you sat outside scared… No matter what happens to you, I will… “What did I want to say…?” No… It’s more like, “I will be the one to defeat you.” That’s what I mean…

[justanother-randomhuman]

my heart keeps melting and weeping reading everybody's thoughts about the season finale... im really sure that Fujiwara-sensei is somewhere really happy not only for her story having the recognition that deserved but for what its causing in so many hearts! 🥹❤️‍🩹

“Mr Evil Lieutenant, sorry for making you wait!” 😭 what a beautiful finale episode. I’m sure Fujiwara sensei is looking down smiling at what Bones did here. They were very respectful with the work and you can feel all the love that went into this. Mira and Mimori rocked my world this summer and I’ll miss them.

Ending the season with a full episode focusing on them was sweet. Mimori trying to show Mira how her magic works was adorable, but how can you have bad feelings when it’s just pure butterflies with the two of them!

My only issue with the finale was gonna be the lack of Spica, Beatrix, Hibana etc but I’m glad they showed us what they’re up to in a post credits scene. It is just pretty sad to see this end because you know there’s so much more story to tell here. All those characters likely would’ve got fleshed out if the manga kept going and probably got their own ships too. Just would’ve loved to have seen Mimori and Mira officially together :/

Still for what it was, really cute time that melted my heart for 12 minutes every week. I’ll miss it. That “endless” card at the end made me start crying because in a way, not giving the story an actual ending is like Mimori and Mira being able to meet every day forever now. Going on living their days in bliss. Their romance will never end.

[review](https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=538235)

[justanother-randomhuman]

MahoAku | Ep12 | The days we have… I’m helpless against… The happiness that I feel.

[justanother-randomhuman]

i will never get over this anime/manga 😭❤️

[justanother-randomhuman]

Maho Aku Episode 12 Review + Final Thoughts - The Cutest Enemies-To-Lovers Story

Because this anime’s finale is just Byakuya and Mira being cute as heck for the final time, I’m going to just give my overall thoughts about the entire anime!

This is the cutest enemies-to-lover anime I’ve watched and now it’s over… This is a show where it’s impossible to ask for a second season because there isn’t anything else to adapt. Still, I can’t deny that this has been one of the most entertaining animes of this season…and it’s only a 12-minute long anime!

It’s crazy how much Bones did to make this weekly 12-minute anime be concise with the pacing and how well they animated it! I loved the cute moments between Byakuya and Mira and how each character helped play a part for both leads, whether they be the sleaziest and the worst character (Cat Familiar), or the cutest thing ever (Fomalhaut). From the beginning, Mira fell for Byakuya, so it was nice seeing her fall for him throughout the 12 episodes. I do like that all the characters have distinct personalities, even if they don’t appear much. I personally enjoyed Hibana and loved whenever she showed up on screen to give Byakuya a chiropractic adjustment and throwing f-bombs.

I like the world building with how there are actually multiple magical girls and familiars with the introduction of Hibana and her Bird Familiar and how the familiars are actually angels. The evil organization fight against the magical girls, but I do wish that we get to learn a bit more about them—we never even saw the Evil King. I guess my only issue with the worldbuilding is that I wish there was more to it. Why do the familiars need the magical girls? Who’s the actual villain? The fact that these will never get answered does upset me slightly.

The music was great! I really loved the songs used for the magical girl transformation! Hibana’s magical girl song was clearly the highlight with the constant blurting of F*ck in the background. I also loved the opening and ending songs as they were catchy!

The voice acting was really good! The two leads reprised their roles from the drama CD and I think they did a good job! I normally associate Yuuki Ono with cool roles, so it was nice to see him do comedy! Actually, I did like his role as Hori from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun! I feel like Ono amped up his comedy game with this anime! His outbursts were so hilarious, especially when he flips his switch from serious to down bad. Byakuya is voiced by Mai Nakahara. It’s nice to hear Nakahara not voice an anime mom for once! Two animes I’ve watched, she voiced an anime mom. It was nice to hear her go out of her usual comfort zone and voice soft-spoken and adorable Byakuya! I think she did a really good job making Byakuya sound young and convincingly young! The other cast did a splendid job with their characters! Other than Hibana and the Bird Familiar, I also enjoyed Hiro Shimono as Alcyone because I originally thought he was Natsuki Hanae, so I’m mentioning him here because he fooled me. Though, if I had to pick a stand out role, it’d be Ayako Kawasumi as Bellatrix. No one ever expected the stoic and aloof officer to be extremely perverted! I sure didn’t!

Overall, this is a quick watch but I totally recommend it if you want something cute to watch! It’s super cute! I do plan on getting the manga! What are your thoughts on the anime as a whole?

[justanother-randomhuman]

⭐✨

[justanother-randomhuman]

[justanother-randomhuman]

the problem with being creative is that you start to feel very guilty when you haven’t created anything in a while

[justanother-randomhuman]

[justanother-randomhuman]

[justanother-randomhuman]

Maho Aku Episode 6 Review - THIS MAGICAL GIRL SAYS F*CK

All my life, I’ve always wanted to see a magical girl who says f*ck. This anime grants my wish. I was also really curious on the magical girl lore of this story and this episode actually delivers on that. It feels like it answers a lot of questions about the familiars and magical girl lore.

There are many familiars as there are magical girls. It is a familiar’s duty to guide magical girls. The Bird Familiar in this episode says that they’re somewhat equivalent to angels. This makes me wonder why the Cat Familiar is such a scumbag if he’s supposed to be an angel. Because of the Cat’s true nature, I can’t help but assume the Bird is only manipulating Hibana. My ultimate question is why these familiars need to guide magical girls. What is their ultimate goal?

Hibana is just hilarious. You see this cute and innocent girl and you wouldn’t expect her to swear like a sailor. I love the gap. Her magical girl transformation has voices singing F*CK in the background opposed to Byakuya who has voices singing her name. I do like seeing the difference in her relationship with her familiar compared to Byakuya and her familiar’s. They have a more friendly and harmonious relationship while Byakuya’s relationship with hers is manipulative and exploitative. Though, I’m surprised that Hibana uses brass knuckles in addition to her staff. It was hilarious seeing her beating up the minions while cursing. Afterwards, she only uses her staff. I guess she uses two weapons and interchanges when needed. I honestly wonder if she’ll form a bond with Fomalhaut later on or if Fomalhaut is just comic relief.

There’s also a nice moment between Mira and Byakuya as the latter misses the former as he didn’t show up for days. She wasn’t aware that there were other magical girls out there, but she was more worried about Mira, which causes him to embrace her. Sweet. I’m glad that the appearance of a new magical girl isn’t causing dumb drama like Mira being fond of magical girls in general as he seems to be only attracted to Byakuya. Gotta love a loyal man.

Now I’m curious about Byakuya and Hibana’s relationship. Given that Byakuya grew up in an orphanage, I’m assuming Hibana was on the same boat until she got adopted while Byakuya was left behind. I wonder if Hibana had always swore or if it was something she picked up after getting adopted.

The Bird Familiar is voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa, which is a crazy choice. Hibana is voiced by Mariya Ise, whom you might know as Killua from Hunter x Hunter, Ray from The Promised Neverland and Series from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. I think she’s a perfect casting choice.

I can’t wait to learn more about Byakuya and Hibana’s relationship and where the story will go from here as more magical girls are introduced. Will this be a source of conflict for Byakuya? I’ll be tuned in next week to find out. How about you?