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ladyloveandjustice · 5 years ago

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Winter 2020 Anime Overview: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun

Ok, so let’s get this out of the way first, 1. I adore this story so much and 2. Toilet Bound Hanako-kun has a horrible, horrible English title that is not actually at all representative of the story’s content and I have no idea what happened when it came to the team choosing that name. To the average English-speaking viewer/reader, this name 100% implies gross stuff and bathroom humor, and there is none in this show.

A Japanese reader on the other hand, would be more likely to recognize the name Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun as a spin on the classic ghost story “Hanako-san of the Toilet” only A BOY THIS TIME WHHHHA?” Basically, the story goes that a girl named Hanako in a red skirt haunts girls’ bathrooms in Japanese schools and if you knock on the third stall and call “Hanako-san” three times, she’ll appear. She might grant you a wish or pull you into Hell or something else, it varies.

(Her Wikipedia image, aww.)

Anyway, I dunno why the English title didn’t at least go with “Toilet Ghost Hanako-kun” or something that would have gotten the premise across even a little better (HE NOT TECHNICALLY BOUND BY THE TOILET EVEN, HE CAN GO ANYWHERE IN THE SCHOOL GROUNDS THE BATHROOM IS JUST HIS HOME BASE), but our boy Hanako haunting the girl’s bathroom only leads to broad jokes about our heroine being tasked with cleaning the bathroom and “dude you really shouldn’t be in here” comments, it’s pretty incidental.

Now that THAT’S out of the way, let’s talk about my LOVE FOR THIS STORY

Hanako-kun tells the story of a “regular” high school girl named Nene Yashiro, the mischievous and mysterious school ghost she befriends, and all the other weird monsters, exorcists, spirits and curses they encounter. It’s got a gorgeous, colorful bold aesthetic and art style that combines gothic and cute! It has a great mix of humor, intrigue, angst and fantasy action. basically if you love ghosts, monsters, Japanese mythology and legends, supernatural-human relationships, supernaturally fueled angst and drama, stories about trying to fix an unfair system the world has set up, wistful romance, a good shoujo manga with a Lot of Feelings (yes this is a shonen technically I’ll explain that later), weirdo dorks becoming friends AND MUCH MORE...this story will have something that will resonate with you. It’s got a lot going on, and it’s a ton of fun.

Hanako-kun is really one of those surprising stories that fits right into a hole in my story-loving heart I didn’t realize was still there, or that I’d actually been carrying since childhood. I love ghosts, see, and have since I was a kid!!! I knew this, but I kinda forgot how intensely I love them until this show reminded me again??? That’s because regular ghost stories/mysteries/whatever- I like them, but they don’t quite do it for me in the way more character-driven ones exploring the nature of being a ghost and humans and ghosts trying understand each other etc do. Stuff that really gets into the tragedy AND the fun fantasy aspect of ghosts, and plays the long game with it- and Hanako-kun scratches that itch perfectly.

Getting a little bit deeper into the premise of Hanako-kun, Nene is a very brave and sweet but not-all-that-bright girl (or, to put it more bluntly, she’s an idiot in the best way) who has a lot of romantic fantasies and insecurities and is VERY focused on them. After hearing a rumor at school that “Hanako-san of the bathroom” will grant wishes, she wishes to be able to confess to her crush and finds out its actually a weird ghost boy her age named Hanako haunting the bathroom! A lot of things happen, and she ends up cursed and bound to Hanako-kun, but also ends up slowly forming a friendship.

Turns out Hanako is the ghost in charge of the “seven mysteries/wonders” aka seven powerful supernatural entities that haunt this school (he’s number seven). These apparitions only supposed to terrorize students a LITTLE, because apparitions need to have rumors spread about them to remain in the human world.

(‘HAVE YOU HEARD?’ Oh hey shadow girls from Utena see you’ve moved to a new school.)

The rumors also generally dictate how powerful and dangerous the apparitions actually are- but SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS is changing the rumors around the school and making the apparitions go berserk and actually harm humans. So Hanako needs a human assistant to change the rumors and help him calm and seal the apparitions! That’s where Nene comes in.

Hanako himself is a very fun character- he’s very chaotic and revels in his whole “ gremlin ghost” persona, and is upfront about being a bit of an asshole. BUT he also makes his kindness, often good intentions and the fact he’ll have his friends back when it counts obvious from the beginning. B U T! He’s also got darkness and hidden depths to explore, and a lot of his persona is affected and masks deeper issues!

Our ghost boy is genuinely A TAD unstable deep down (as in he straight up has several untreated PTSD symptoms and that’s as disastrous as you’d expect) and packing some serious tragic backstory, as you might expect from a kid who died young and carries around a butcher’s knife, and it’s gonna come back to bite him and and all who care about him hard.

Especially when an overly enthusiastic exorcist named Kou Minamoto shows up! Kou is another one who’s very dumb and very good, a wannabe-shonen-protag with a heart of gold and strong sensitive, domestic side. He rounds out our main trio. Also he gets a tragic, emotionally intense relationship with yet another ghost boy that sings to my heart.

(Yes Hanako’s helping Nene to do the thing)

You may be able to tell, this story has INTENSE good-shoujo vibes despite technically being a shonen in a way that I love- it’s story very driven by big emotions, a variety of fucked up and tragically complex relationships, teen hormones running wild, etc, and it’s just delicious.

Nene is the normal-person-audience-surrogate-girl in a way that is more common for a shoujo protag, and the way her emotional connections to everyone, her sweeping romantic fantasies and her interiority are consistently in focus when she’s there- yeah, she’s definitely a plucky shoujo protag, 100%. And I’m all about that!!!

One thing I especially appreciate (though this comes across more strongly in the manga than the anime thanks to the anime rearranging things) is when Nene finds out about Hanako’s Heavy Baggage, she actually takes some time to herself to consider whether she can handle dealing with someone with these intense issues as a kid who’s never encountered stuff like this before- it’s not assumed by the story that the Sweet Girl is Obligated to help the Tragic Boy. I go into more detail about this part in this part here, but it’s that kind of attention to Nene’s needs that makes her role in the story work. Hanako and Nene and everyone’s struggles to get the hang of and properly navigate honest communication and mutual support in relationships are often really great and real-feeling

The story has a lot more things I love packed in to it- a dorky-but-still-deeply-unsettling villain gang who’s screwed up interactions are just as fun as our protagonists, yokai, A CURSED LIBRARY, some great ladies in addition to Nene, meditations on the nature of life, death, themes about fighting nihilism, and so on...I could seriously go on forever. It’s good stuff, and there’s lots of good weird supernaturals to meet.

The story’s also got tons of intrigue! The overarching plot and Hanako’s Mysterious Past is still in the process of unfolding, but it’s been great drama every step of the way! As mentioned before, the story also really relies on funny character dynamics, interaction and development to carry the whole thing and balance the drama.

The anime itself does have some pacing issues bc they crammed a lot into the first season and rearranged some stuff- an entire two chapter arc was skipped and was unlikely to be covered in the anime and some parts are noticeably rushed. I still really like the anime and it’s a solid adaptation. I love how much of the manga’s detailed aesthetic it managed to keep as well as the amazing voice acting and it made a few small but important additions. But there are some notable bumps- of course this just led me to go binge the manga (up to volume 12 is legally available digitally) and BOY DO I NOW LOVE THIS STORY EVEN MORE.

Now obviously, just because it is Exactly My Shit in a lot of ways doesn’t mean Hanako-kun is the much quested for “unproblematic fave”, there’s several caveats you should probs be aware of- its shoujo vibes also mean some classic shoujo ~Problematic tropes~ and a couple shounen ones.

THE LIST:

-Just as a general content overview thing: if this wasn’t clear the show deals heavily with death, body horror and other horror aspects. There’s heavily implied suicide and abuse and so on- as mentioned, the main character is traumatized and shows a lot of symptoms of PTSD, and Nene has to struggle to navigate her relationship with him because of this, as does Kou.

-Hanako himself has the whole ~loveable pervert~ and ~slightly possessive shoujo bad boy~ schtick going as part of his mischevious persona. In the anime so far, he never actually gropes or comments on not-in-his-naughty-mags-people’s breasts or anything of that level thankfully, but he’s very flirty, clingy, will loudly bring up porn, fond of the ol�� *says something that purposefully sounds sexually possessive* HAHAHA U THOUGHT I MEANT SOMETHING DIRTY RIGHT LOL ACTUALLY I DIDN’T.”

(My unnecessary ‘this part is kinda interesting!’ ramble: Nene always lists “sexual harassment” among Hanako’s flaws (she loves listing them), but doesn’t get visibly uncomfortable with his flirtiness or seem to mind it most times, which at least makes the whole thing more tolerable for me.

(since she doesn’t seem to mind that part and its clear he does it bc of actual affection for her, it’s actually p. cute how huggy he is.)

The one time it does cross the line and genuinely upset her, it’s treated seriously, Hanako is genuinely regretful and apologizes. That’s one of my fave moments in the story and the way it’s handled is well done.

This incident that he’s honestly pretty socially clueless as kid who died young and a lot of his bravado is to cover that up and keep people at a distance- this is a trope into itself that can use unpacking but I do at least appreciate that this is a considered character trait that’s part of his whole messed up package rather than something that thrown in there Just to Be a Fanservice Trope. (Especially since the manga confirms he never acted particularly pervy while alive, further cementing this is an affected persona).

-There’s a running gag around Nene’s insecurity over her thick ‘daikon shaped’ ankles and boys treating her badly for it.

One one hand, her body image issues are relatable, on the other, it feels cruel and annoying just how much the show finds ways to bring it up and humiliate her over and over again.

(My unnecessary “this is part is kinda interesting” ramble:The one thing i did realize that despite bringing it up constantly, we at least have no “i’m going to do this to lose weight” or “go on a diet” rhetoric,like this is just part of Nene’s body type and she knows she can’t change it? Which is kinda interesting. And I’ve spotted what might be foreshadowing something plot relevant’s going to happen with her ankles (I DON’T KNOW HOW, BUT GOD I PUT NOTHING PAST THIS STORY) so uh yeah??? either way it’s not good tho)

-”Obsessive and twisted love” is a running theme in this story, and while it’s generally acknowledged as unhealthy, it can be played for comedy in a way that could make viewers/readers uncomfortable. There’s a couple characters who’s entire thing so far is “obsessively in love with this one person” (and the one only focused on in the manga so far is one of the least interesting characters tbh ugh)

-The antagonist of the show is a member of a main character’s family, and the manner he acts towards pretty much everyone, including (and really especially) his family member, verges on seductive. This is presented as deliberately unsettling and treated as a marker of how unstable and scary he is- and though the backstory between them hasn’t been fully delved into, it’s pretty much all but confirmed he abused this family member physically and emotionally.

-The story has like, A LOT of queer subtext and pretty-heavy queer coding for one character especially, but the few times queerness blatantly comes up in the story, it’s played as a joke in the “haha that’d be kinda weird” way (aside from the rando boys who have a crush on Teru, handled pretty neutrally). It’s not as malicious as a lot of animanga can get (ONE MANGA INCIDENT ASIDE), but it’s something to Be Aware Of, and it makes it clear we’re unlikely to see subtext rise to text and makes some moments feel baity.

-And probably more I might have missed! The manga also has Some Shit in addition all the Good Shit that hasn’t been adapted yet, an early arc has Hanako crossing a serious line etc.

BUT despite how messy it is, I think it’s clear I have a lot of love for this story. In fact, I wouldn’t trade away a good chunk of its messiness (DEFINITELY SOME JUST NOT ALL), it kinda works for the characters and works in the “this story really feed my inner teen” way. Some of the trashy parts are exactly My Trash, basically.

So, I knew I’d ramble on for a while when I talked about his show, but if you’ve read this far, thanks, and I hope that means you’re gonna check out and maybe enjoy this story, bc i need more people to join me in Hanako Hell.

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jibaku shonen hanako kun #winter 2020 anime #anime overview #hanako kun #nene yashiro #yashiro nene #kou minamoto #minamoto kou #yugi amane #amane yugi #my reviews

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snkpolls · 4 years ago

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SnK Episode 60 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 159 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

RATE THE EPISODE 130 Responses

And we’re back! An explosive premiere brings the series back. The vast majority seemed to enjoy the episode, with only 2.3% of folks giving it a score below a 3.

I thought some of the directing in the action scenes was odd and the music didn’t feel as well integrated/utilized as in past seasons.

If this season is consistently as good as this first episode, AOT will indeed end as a perfect masterpiece

ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT THE CHANGE FROM WIT STUDIO TO MAPPA? 127 Responses

The Studio change from WIT Studio to MAPPA was a subject of much scrutiny and debate before the season’s release. With almost 61% showing some form of enthusiasm about a new studio’s take on the series. The opinion is not uniform, of course, with just over 18% stating their preference for WIT studio. Slightly less (17.3%) can’t give an answer yet and the rest don’t seem to care at all.

I wished MAPPA would make the latter episodes a little more vibrant and lessen the blur

mappa as some of my favorite shows (banana fish, yuri on ice, etc) so it was kinda cool to see they picked up AOT szn 4 ! i’m excitedly waiting to watch the next episode, (and with my ‘watch partner’ aka tumblr friend who discusses with me as we watch LOL).

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CGI TITANS? 127 Responses

If there’s one thing that’s rather controversial about the series’ animation adaptation, then it’s certainly the use of CGI (particularly when animating Titans). The opinion of the fanbase seems to be rather positive, nonetheless. 72.4% of responders gave the CGI some praise (be it more open or more reserved), while 18.2% were more negative about the use of CGI. At the bottom was 9.4% who stated that they preferred WIT’s style of CGI to the one utilized in the episode.

cgi wasn't bad but I was disappointed that it wasn't the 2d animation from the trailer

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEW OPENING? 128 Responses

When it came to the season’s opening, there was a positive response, with more than 72% expressing a favorable opinion. 21.1% didn’t seem to care for it and about 6% stated that they thoroughly disliked it.

OP is WAY too overrated, nowhere near as good as the original, too much glorification of the kind of nationalism that led to Nazi germany's rise to power

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEW ENDING? 130 Responses

The new ending received very similar scores, with a similar figure of more than 72% expressing a positive view of the ending and a little over a quarter not caring for it. The proportion disliking it was much lower however, with only 2.3% of folks expressing those thoughts.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE 4 YEAR TIME SKIP? 126 Responses

One of the grandest developments that came about in this episode is the fact that a 4 year time skip has occurred since the defeat of the Warriors in Shiganshina. Although there is a sizable minority expressing negative feelings (13.5%), the definitive majority is coming in with enthusiasm (70.6%). The rest are still thinking this change over.

wtf is going on? Who are these new people? Why are we supposed to care about them if they're from Marley? Where are the main characters? Yeah, I suppose Reiner and Zeke technically count as MCs, but there is an appalling lack of 104th characters that needs to be fixed asap!

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SETTING CHANGE? 125 Responses

In a similar vein, a remarkable new development is a change of setting. The majority (almost 61%) see it in a positive light, while 16% seem to dislike it. Just over 19% aren’t certain yet.

After what Reiner and co. did, I am not at all interested in their side of the story and just want Eren and co. to completely decimate these people

Fun to meet new characters but I'm eager to know whats going on with the characters we know

It feels a little disorienting but it's a logical progression of the story

Strange

Wouldnt mind the change of setting if we at least had it from the 104th's perspective

I wasn’t expecting it to be so focused on new characters, and I was disappointed at first but I’m indifferent now.

Not liking the new perspective. At least for this new batch of kids. If Reiner and Zeke are going to be a major focus for a while, wouldn't a short series of flashbacks for their pasta work better than a completely new spin-off from the main story?

WHICH NEW CHARACTER IS YOUR FAVORITE SO FAR? 125 Responses

As this episode introduced a lot of new characters, we got a colorful pie chart for this one. The plurality of responses (40%) chose the kind-hearted Falco, while 28% went with passionate Gabi. 14.4% chose the caring Colt and 13.6% went with the cool Jaw Titan holder. The last couple of responses picked out the stoic General Magath and the quiet Zofia. Poor Udo didn’t get a single vote!

I loved it. I love the new art style, my favorite scene was Gabi destroying the train, she's awesome. I really love Falco as well and Colt. Galliard's titan design is sick

I literally don't give a shit about these new kids, I don't care about their story, just bring back EMA and the 104th already!

WHO DO YOU THINK WILL INHERIT THE ARMORED TITAN? 125 Responses

Another colorful pie chart! An almost even split for the (possible) future inheritor of the Armored Titan. 37.6% believe Falco will take it, while 27.2% went with Gabi. 33.6% do not see any of the cadets inheriting Reiner’s titan and the last couple of votes went ahead to Zofia instead.

WHO HAD THE BETTER GLOW UP? 127 Responses

When drawing comparison to Reiner and Zeke’s looks in the previous season, there was a clear favorite among the responses - Reiner, with 74%. Zeke had the preference of 15% and those who didn’t feel like either of them “went through a glow up” took 11%.

can we acknowledge how good zeke, reiner, and [redacted] looked 😌🥰

REINER PLEASE FUCK ME

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE JAW TITAN? 126 Responses

New season, new setting, new titan! The vast majority of viewers seem hyped about the Jaw Titan and find its design really cool. 15.9% aren’t as thrilled about it, and 9.5% haven’t decided yet. Most of the write-in comments implied a connection with the Jaw Titan. But for the purpose of avoiding spoiling those who haven’t drawn the same conclusion, we won’t be publishing them. Just know we see you. ;)

i was lowkey scared lmao

CART TITAN - BETTER WITH ARMOR OR WITHOUT? 127 Responses

We are reunited with the eerie Cart Titan from S3, but this time flexing cool armor and machine guns on its back! The overwhelming majority of respondents prefer it better tricked out in its armor, over a small minority who appreciate its natural creepiness more.

MOST OF THE EPISODE FOCUSES ON GABI. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HER? 124 Responses

Gabi appears to be a point of controversy among anime viewers already, with 38.7% viewing her favorably, 37.9% viewing her less favorably, and 16.9% not sure how to feel about her yet. Some comments feel she is similar to Eren in some ways, while others found her annoying. And yes, she did break international law. :P

Eren, but smol and female xD

I hate her already

I think she’s awesome

She's like Eren was

she passionately creepy but i like her lol

shes annoying

Gabi is SO annoying istfg really hope Falco gets more focus than Gabi, he seems nicer and more relatable

FALCO MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT “FLYING AROUND WITH A SWORD” AND “ATTACKING TITANS.” WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT? 126 Responses

Overall, no one seems to know what’s going on, though many are theorizing that this is related to the paths, titan powers/memory transfer, or Eren somehow. What could this mean for the future of Falco’s character?

Dig at anime viewers returning to S4

He saw the memories of a survey corps member

I have a couple theories, regarding the memories that intelligent Titans share back and forth

maybe he had one of those flashback/forward things that erens dad had

WHO DO YOU THINK WAS BUYING THE NEWSPAPER AT THE END? 126 Responses

Nearly 90% of respondents are certain that this mystery character is someone we know, while just a small handful of people believe it’s someone new, and about the same amount not ready to make a call one way or the other yet. Some write-ins on the poll had guessed specifically who the character may be already. But we won’t spoil you just yet. 👀

The end credits guy is definitely someone we know, but I highly doubt it's Eren

The sharp-looking dude at the end just HAS to be someone we know on Paradis, there's no way they'd just throw us in to this new cast of nobodies without some connection to the main characters

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF ELDIANS BEING USED AS WAR FODDER? 126 Responses

The treatment of Eldians on the mainland is something that the majority of respondents see as detestable, with 87.3% finding the use of them as war fodder to be downright cruel. A smaller amount of people either felt it was a necessary evil, or didn’t feel strongly about it one way or the other.

Literally waiting for the 104th to show up and fuck shit up for these inhumane monsters

That's what happens in the real world. The persecuted minority gets used as war fodder.

i d k 👀

DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE FOR RELATIONS BETWEEN ELDIANS AND MARLEYANS TO IMPROVE? 123 Responses

Colorful opinions mean more colorful pie charts! Most viewers feel that there is no way for the relations between Eldians and Marleyans to improve (30.1%) or that relations will never improve, with the exception of a rare few who are sympathetic to Eldians (22.8%). A smaller amount (totalling 32.5%) feel that it’s possible for things to improve whether it be due to a change in Marleyan leadership or due to the two sides having to come together for the greater good. 14.6% of respondents stand in the middle ground, unsure of whether relations can improve or not.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Honestly at first it was very confusing but overall I enjoyed it

So when do we get to see the 104th again?

I figured there would be more modern technology involved in the story, but I'm not a fan at all of the direction it's going so far. Makes me worried the ultimate basement reveal was the peak of AoT's greatness.

it was action filled!!! although i was sad so see that there are 16 episodes n not like 24(i think), it means every episode is gonna deliver!!! off to a great start, op and ed are amazing. renier had a nice glow up and JEAN WAS THAT U AT THE END?? yessir!!! beast titan looked ugly asf but when was he not ugly?? LOL

Idk wtf that opening was but I kinda like the ending. Falco seems like a good kid. I just REALLY hope he doesn't end up doing anything to hurt the protagonists (I fully expect Gabi to, she's already a violent ax-crazy kid)

just give me some Armin

WHERE. IS. EREN?

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 124 Responses

Thanks again everyone for participating in the poll! We look forward to seeing your responses for next week’s episode!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk spoilers #snk s4 #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot

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littlepurinsesu · 5 years ago

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V Watches MagiReco - Episode 9 Review

*Spoilers for Magia Record Anime Episode 9*

I... have mixed feelings about this episode O___O While some parts were definitely well-done (like, REALLY well-done), there were some others that left me a bit underwhelmed and wanting something more?

Don’t get me wrong, by no means was it not a good episode, because it was. But I’m gonna try my hardest to pinpoint why I felt that while some parts were amazing, others really could have been done better.

The phone conversation with Iroha and AI had some top-notch imagery going on in the background. As expected of a PMMM spin-off, every single frame probably has some deep and profound symbolism if you really wanted to pause and analyse each one. There’s never a dull moment on screen; even when all that’s happening is a phone conversation, they know how to hold your attention by giving your eyes a feast with that amazingly trippy and surreal kind of art style that PMMM is known for.

I, too, was a bit disappointed that Madoka and Homura didn’t show up, and by the looks of it, they probably won’t be making their appearance during Sana’s arc at all, which makes yet another major deviation the anime has made. But it’s not that huge of a deal to me because I know they’ll appear at some other point and I’m sure they had their reasons for making this change (hopefully for something better!). I’m happy to let the new characters take the spotlight; I actually think it’s a better choice than constantly relying on the Holy Quintet to build hype and satisfy the fans, which could actually draw attention and focus away from the main plot sometimes. This is how I personally feel, at least ^^;;

That being said, although I didn’t mind Madoka and Homura not being there, I did have some issues with Iroha’s entrance into the Rumour. It just happened... way too quickly and suddenly? I expected a bit more dialogue between the characters, especially since Yachiyo’s expression and comment about jumping off the tower not killing magical girls should have been a big indicator that she knows something (wink wink). I think that might have been a good chance to foreshadow the reveal that comes with Chapter 6, and maybe add a bit more mystery to Yachiyo’s unrevealed past. But the biggest problem I had with this scene was the way Iroha jumped lol. She just... jumped. Like it was no big deal. And it was even weirder because she technically “fell” while reaching out to catch Lil’ Kyubey, but there was hardly any reaction xD She also happened to be in the middle of a sentence while talking to Yachiyo LOL clearly that “jump” wasn’t a planned or prepared one xD I just really felt like the dialogue wasn’t finished or something was cut somewhere in there? They were talking and suddenly down she goes. I know I probably sound extremely nitpicky and this is just a minor detail that doesn’t really make much difference to the story (none at all, in fact), but I just found her apathy somewhat unrealistic and strange, which broke the immersion for me during what should have been a very crucial and heart-pounding moment. Unless Iroha’s just super brave and isn’t afraid of heights at all? Maybe? xD

Anyway, back to the positive stuff! Sana’s backstory was depicted really well. Again, absolutely amazing visuals (I especially liked the use of shoes and dinosaurs). And Sana’s bond with AI was portrayed even better than in the game, in my opinion. It was the most heartwarming and bittersweet relationship, and it’s amazing to see how AI slowly changes in Sana’s company. By the way, their chess game with little puppies and kittens was adorable omg x) I’d love to write more on Sana and AI, but I don’t really have anything specific to say except that I just really, really loved how their relationship was portrayed. Definitely the best part about this week’s episode.

And now comes my biggest complaint: Alina’s debut. As one of the most popular and interesting MagiReco characters, I’m sure the entire fandom was looking forward to how the anime would go about introducing her. I don’t know if I just set my expectations too high or anything, but her entrance was extremely underwhelming for me. And a lot of the reasons were exactly the same as my dissatisfaction with Iroha’s jump: too rushed and too many missed opportunities. She just kind of appeared out of nowhere, and while I do appreciate the “shock value”, what annoyed me was the lack of of a proper “introduction” she got. AI stated her name, and Iroha questioned if she was a member of the Wings of Magius, but we didn’t get any answers. There was no explanation on who she was or what she was doing there, how she got in and what her relationship with AI was. Game players would know, of course, but I’m concerned that anime-only viewers will have no idea what’s going on and probably also have no idea that they just met one of the most important and popular characters of the franchise right now. Essentially, they’re just gonna be seeing a very flamboyant and crazy girl enter and wreck havoc but with no explanation about why she was doing what she was doing or what her connection was with the current situation and the bigger picture of the plot thus far. She just comes in and steals the spotlight, and while game players know that she definitely deserves the spotlight given who she is, anime-only viewers are probably going to be left wondering why this random green girl just came in, who the heck she is, and why everything is about her all of a sudden.

Another crucial piece of information that got lost in that very rushed and chaotic introduction was the fact that Alina actually used the word “Doppel”, which is the first time the term has been dropped in the anime. But again, no one even responded or reacted in any way (at least do the cliche thing where the protagonist repeats “Doppel?” or something LOL), but no she just keeps rambling on and yet another crucial piece of information is lost in the shuffle. What makes it possibly even more confusing is that her Doppel really doesn’t look like the Doppels we’ve seen so far; it could pass as her shooting random bits of paint-like oozy stuff instead, so I’m really struggling to see how anime-only viewers are going to make that connection and put the pieces together.

And if her entrance was underwhelming, then her “exit” was probably even worse lol. She just... disappears xD It’s quite anticlimactic considering how it looked like we were gearing up for Sana vs. Alina, and then she just suddenly gets kicked out lmao. I get that she’ll be back really soon, but it still felt way too abrupt? I think my main gripe about everything to do with Alina’s debut can be summed up in two words: too rushed. There’s so much about her character that’s interesting and vital to the story, but everything either gets glossed over really quickly or just dropped here and there with no response from the other characters. Even if they didn’t want to get into details right away, which is also fine, they could still have slowed down and built up some mystery and tension so that we’ll want to find out more about her because we’re interested and curious, and not because we have no idea what’s going on. Her appearance should have brought some answers to the questions raised throughout the story thus far, but instead she just brought more confusion and chaos lol.

But her entrance wasn’t all negative! They absolutely nailed her mannerisms. Basically everything that makes her so infamously crazy was delivered flawlessly. Her expressions, her movements, her voice, her speech, her word choice... she definitely entered with a BANG and she’s no doubt going to leave a deep impression on viewers, whether they understand her deal or not lol. The voice-acting was also top-notch, as expected of her seiyuu. Alina’s one of those characters where you really need to hear her speaking and see her moving to experience the full extent of her "charm”, and I’d say the anime definitely delivered in that respect and portrayed her uniqueness in a strong and memorable way, so props to them for that :D

^ I really wanted to use this image for this week’s review, but it’s technically Sana’s episode so I stuck with Sana xD Oh, and another thing I definitely loved about her entrance was hearing her saying so many of her lines from the game battles ^^

... Wow I just rambled and ranted for four whole paragraphs about Alina’s introduction, sheesus... Onto some other stuff now, shall we? ^^;;

One of the most interesting things to me about AI was how her appearance changes to become more and more like Sana. This is another example where the anime is able to illustrate things that the game isn’t capable of, and while I’m not sure if it’s a change or I simply missed it in the game because of the static AI sprite, I definitely liked this little detail. It not only shows how AI slowly becomes more and more human, but also highlights the fact that her form resembling Sana implies the influence that Sana has had on her. Sana is all AI has really ever known about humans and the “real” world, and all the human feelings and emotions she gains are because of Sana. It makes perfect sense that when she takes on a more human-like appearance, it’s going to resemble Sana in some respect. The little detail with the crown near the end was also really sweet ;___;

I really do think “mixed feelings” is the best way to describe my overall impression of this week’s episode xD Sana’s backstory and her relationship with AI had me in tears, but Iroha’s jump and Alina’s debut definitely had me raising my eyebrows a few times. I can overlook the Iroha part as just me being nitpicky over a trivial detail, but I really do hope that they step up their game with Alina next week. They definitely did her justice on a surface level, but in terms of her significance and relevance to the plot, not so much. She’s such an important character and her appearance marks a major plot point, so I hope we get the explanations and clarifications needed soon.

I have even higher expectations for next week, since not only is the showdown with Alina something I’ve been looking forward to for a while, but I’m also hoping that they “rectify” some of the issues this week lol. Fingers crossed that Alina gets some better writing, and they continue doing the amazing job they’ve done so far with Sana’s story! ^^

Sorry I’m so much more “negative” this week compared to how I usually am with my reviews, but I was looking forward to Alina’s appearance so much and was really sad to feel any ounce of disappointment :( Hopefully next week’s review will be back to just me fangirling throughout hehe~

#magia record #magireco #puella magi madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica side story #pmmm #fandom #mine #anime #review #magia record review #v watches magireco

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sailor-cresselia · 6 years ago

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Zi-O 18: Well that sure is a thing that’s going to happen.

Hey, so, Zi-O’s gotten good, you guys.

(lol watched episodes 15 through 17 again to prepare)

(insert cut here)

Woz’s summary this week can be… well, summarized as: “What in the actual heck just happened?!”

Also, I love how he runs into frame. It implies he’s running to his clock room from the scene we left off in last episode.

… have… have we ever seen the hands on that background clock move before this? It just advanced by one minute. It’s always been ticking, right? But it’s never actually been seen to move before, I don’t think. The closeup on the hand clicking forward has to be significant somehow.

2019!Rentaro is in a whole lot of pain from being kicked out of his Another Rider transformation… and I don’t think that’s something that’s really happened before. It could be because RiderWoz’s attack was pretty brutal, or… it could be related to the sequence breaking – if he’s supposed to be Kamen Rider Shinobi in 2022, but was turned into Another Shinobi here in 2019, that’s multiple different variants of ‘out of order’ right there.

You swine. You didn’t even acknowledge Tsukuyomi’s presence. You absolute cur.

Pre-show sponsor segment is… Jets of flame!

(I’m getting a kick out of keeping track of this, okay?)

(happy sounds) Future tech! Future tech! Tsukuyomi gets to use her tablet! ^.^

Geiz doesn’t seem to know what to think of this whole ‘savior’ business. Aww, bud, you don’t actually want to take Sougo out anymore, do you? You’re trying to keep him from becoming Oma Zi-O now, more than the ‘seeing if he will become’ that you were before.

You know what that is? Good character development.

(Now, Tsukuyomi’s turn!)

Geiz rolls his eyes at Sougo’s suggesting that they give the Wozes nicknames, but immediately jumps at the chance to torment BlackWoz.

Wait, our time travelers can’t go to alternate futures, so they can’t get the Shinobi Ridewatch, and thus can’t defeat Another Shinobi… who are technically the same person, which is worrying.

But Schwartz… got the Another Shinobi watch from that alternate future. What is your game, sir? And I do use that moniker loosely.

Heure is on his guard, which is fair – WhiteWoz is incredibly into murder threats.

So yeah, it is the same Rentaro, and sequence breaking abounds.

“!DANGER! CAN NOT GET DOWN” … pft. That is one of the best error messages I’ve seen in a long time.

OH SWEET MORE REALLY WELL DONE ENGLISH. I’ll be transcribing that in here after I finish the episode.

… I have now finished the episode, and come back up to this section to transcribe. Line breaks are as per the Time Mazine display, as are square brackets. Parentheses ( ) are where I can’t make out what the screen says – it gets too pixellated and blocked by the error message at that point.

“From the scientific point of view, the concept of time travel has been pointed out various problems [2]

and in fact it can not be realized with the current scientific power.

The type of time travel is based on the concept of “past-future asymmetry” and “flow

of time”, but “time travel” is drawn variously depending on how to handle these premises. On the other hand, while making (illegible) entertained

authors will draw on issues such as building stories so that viewers do not (test/feel) logical collapses, drawing (as if?) (illegible) have a dream [3]

It is a general thing as a fantasy story [fiction] and many works dealing with time travel have been (produced/denounced) (illegible) both in Japan and abroad.”

... I feel like they definitely sourced this from somewhere, but I can’t be bothered to go look it up.

WhiteWoz is OP and the worst. Ugh. The guy has the definition of a Slasher Smile.

This whole discussion with BlackWoz and Sougo… mm yes more please.

BlackWoz thinks that interacting with the Another Shinobi situation can only get Sougo’s Path To The Throne thrown off course. Of course, we know that Sougo’s not entirely here for the whole Evil Overlord thing as is, but he also doesn’t really have a choice in going – we know that WhiteWoz summoned him with his book.

Sougo thinks that Rentaro could still become a Rider in the future… hold on. What was it he said about Altered!Sento and Ryuuga, way back in episode 2?

Ah, yes. Right after he gave ‘Takumi’ and Ryuuga the blank watches…

��Even if history changes, Sento will choose to become Build, and Ryuuga will choose to become Cross-Z. That’s what I think.”

Hm. Interesting.

(Also I just found out that I’ve got O-T’s 480 versions of Zi-O 2 and 4, instead of the 720s. Whoops. Rectifying that now.)

Back to the Sougo / BlackWoz conversation…

Woz: You know this is probably a trap, right?

Sougo: Yeah, but at least I’m going in knowing that I’m going into a trap.

Woz, once Sougo’s left: Please do not.

I can’t exactly argue with either of their logic on that last bit… but better the trap you know exists, right?

Right?

Sougo’s trying to talk Rentaro down. He knows that Rentaro can do better, he’s seen him do better – although, how he had that dream is concerning, but that’s for a bit later, really.

“Is this really how you wanted to go about helping people? Because it doesn’t look like it is to me. Also, being a king is actually kind of overrated, 1/10, would not recommend except in last-ditch scenarios.”

The Another Shinobi watch is really taking it’s toll on poor Rentaro, isn’t it?

Ooo, clever. Sougo made it look like his sword was knocked out of his hands, but he used his now very empty hands to bar Another Shinobi’s, and thus those claw blades, and then. He just. He headbutts him. Okay.

Hey, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Sougo’s Personal Rider Kick, hasn’t it? Nice to see that again, after seeing Woz’s during the last episode.

Ah. I get it. WhiteWoz couldn’t create the Shinobi Watch unless Shinobi at least has the potential to exist. He can’t jump ahead to things that can’t happen, can he?

Nice limit to find. Still super OP, since he can influence people with that book, but he can’t cut his way straight to the top. He has to find a way to work… ‘adjacent’ to the events that are still unfolding.

The BeyonDriver’s voice is going to drive me up a wall soon.

And yes, as a matter of fact, that ‘driver/drive’ pun was intentional.

Haaahaha, fight the shadow-diving ninja with some shadow-diving of your own… or, well, technically his own, but you know what I mean. And then Another Shinobi joins Woz in his own shadow and that is the first time I’ve seen anyone think of that tactic.

WHY is that the first time I’ve seen anyone think of that tactic to fight that sort of technique?

I mean, it turns out poorly for Another Shinobi, he’s still on the losing end, but it’s clever.

Hey, remember that Build Arc comparison I made a few scenes ago?

Sougo, re: Shinobi: “I’m sure he’ll obtain power to do good, in the future. By his own choice.”

*.* I like when I might have actually spotted things.

HEY, REMEMBER THAT FACTION LIST I MADE LAST WEEK?

Because BlackWoz does.

“Everyone is trying to alter the future of Oma Zi-O except the two of us.”

Hate to break it to you here but, uh, I’m pretty sure you and Sougo aren’t aiming for the same overlord ending. It’s pretty clear that he’s not down with your version of events, has not been for some time, and is overall pretty sick of the whole ‘demon king’ variant you’re pushing.

Geiz isn’t quite into WhiteWoz’s ‘savior’ variant of events, is he? Winning on his own power, yes, I understand that completely… but Geiz doesn’t buy that he’s any sort of savior.

He’s a soldier, after all, and one who went soft at that. One who is becoming friends with his target.

And, yes, I know I say this a lot in these liveblogs, but… it needs to be said again, since they are actively bringing it up now.

History is written by the winners. And nobody has actually won yet.

#kamen rider zi o #sailorcressy says #in which i overthink everything yet again #sailorcressy looks way too much into things

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orionsangel86 · 8 years ago

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12x10 - Pterodactyl Screeching into the Void - Part 2

This is the second part of my episode review for 12x10 “Lily Sunder has some Regrets”. The first part mainly focusses on Destiel and its HUGE role in the episode. You can go check that out first if you like here.

This part of my review is to talk about some of the other very interesting themes in the episode now that I have screeched about Destiel to my heart’s content and will try to be a more rational person (disclaimer: its not gonna work)

To be honest it is practically impossible for me to talk about this episode without at least referencing Destiel as the very principle theme of the episode is about angels and their interactions with humans in different ways specifically where love is involved. But whether you see Dean and Cas’s love for one another as romantic or platonic the one thing that absolutely cannot be argued away after this episode is that the love between them well and truly does exist in canon. Therefore sorry Jensen but you seem to be confusing Supernatural with another show when you make rash and ill-conceived statements at conventions to appease hateful non-fans. Ahem. Anyway, Moving on…

Angels and Obsession

The starting scene of the episode introduces us to Benjamin. In a bar decorated with vintage video game memorabilia the angel is obsessively playing a game that just makes me think of Charlie. :( Though tbh the symbolism behind an angel controlling an monster to destroy a city is certainly not lost on me and takes my mind right back to the apocalypse where the angels were the ‘monsters’ who wanted to kick start the apocalypse that would literally bring cities to the ground. So yeah, that was an interesting choice of video game basically.

The fact that Benjamin has been here every night obsessively playing this game gives us another interesting insight into angels. One that is explored quite thoroughly in this episode: They have an obsessive nature when it comes to human things.

This opening sequence therefore shows us the most harmless version of this. Benjamin has got himself hooked on video games. (kinda reminds me of Cas taking up Riverboat Gambling. I wonder if Cas ever still sneaks off when the Winchesters are on hunts to feed his gambling addiction? I know it hasn’t been mentioned since but it is certainly within the realms of canon possibility that Cas has an addictive personality, and now after this episode that has been applied to more angels than just Cas.)

I’m now thinking of Endverse!Cas and my heart is breaking because of course Castiel has an addictive personality. Oh and lets not forget 11x04 – 11x06 and Cas’s newfound obsession with Netflix. Human things are shown to be dangerous to angels. Ishim says this himself later in the episode:

“You know why we’re meant to stay away from humans? It’s not because we’re a danger to them, they’re are a danger to us.”

The thing is, as much of a dick as Ishim was, he’s not wrong. Humans are a danger to angels because angels are not built to really understand human things and emotions. Benjamin’s obsessive gaming is just the start. He may be best case scenario, but Ishim is worst case scenario. An angel who becomes completely enthralled by a human and claims to have ‘fallen in love’ with her – though in Isham’s case it is doubtful he even understands the concept of love. Lily becomes Isham’s obsession. To the point that he terrifies her into calling on another angel to protect her from him.

“you were obsessed!” she cries.

“I was in love with you” he argues. But Ishim couldn’t have been in love with her, because as Dean (aka poster boy for humanity) shows us later on, love isn’t about causing your lover pain, it’s about being willing to risk yourself to save them from any further harm.

This is one of the very major points of the episode. Because Angels are not accustomed to deal with Human things, for an angel, love itself becomes the killer. Condemning both the angel and the object of the angel’s affection to a life of pain, tragedy and death. To bring this back to Dean and Cas, it can very easily be argued that much of what has happened to Castiel, and by association Dean, is because of Castiel’s ‘unrequited’ love for Dean. Thinking back over their long tragic history, if you remove that deep love that Castiel has felt for Dean since the beginning where would we be now? Would we have had the leviathans? Would the angels have the angel tablet? The angels probably wouldn’t have fallen, and much of Castiel’s guilt that came from that wouldn’t have happened. On the other hand if we had had canon destiel since the end of season 5, it can also be argued that much of what Dean and Cas and also Sam went through in seasons 6 and 7 wouldn’t have happened because they would have found another way to stop Raphael together. But this is all just speculation after all.

This episode does seem to imply that when the angels love is requited, things don’t go quite so terribly. Whatever kind of love it was that was shared between Lily and Akobel, it worked. He cared for her and gave his life protecting her. Not so much an obsession as a mutual respect and understanding. Then there is Benjamin and his vessel. Not an obsession but a shared trust and care for each other. A devotion that kept them both safe for many years.

So basically, we can conclude that when an angel has a supportive human by their side to help them through any potentially “obsessive” compulsions, it works out okay for both parties. If the angel is shunned and left to its own completely inhuman devices, it turns cold and monstrous. Gosh now this is making me think of that destiel comic where Cas becomes an actual ‘weeping angel’ from Doctor Who. Cold and monstrous indeed.

more under the cut...

Angels and Gender

This is a topic that has me so excited you have no idea how happy I am. Those of you that are regular followers of my blog know that I was going on about genderbend not that long ago. The fact that we get a CANON FEMALE CASTIEL IS AMAZING AND I WILL NEVER STOP GOING ON ABOUT IT.

But before I go on and on about that. Let me talk about this moment:

“Wait so Benjamin’s a woman?”

“Benjamin is an angel. His vessel is a woman.”

I love that this point was drummed home and it was done so for several reasons. The first one is obviously the textual reason to put the situation straight with Sam and Dean. ‘Angels don’t have gender’ is the message here. Sam and Dean get it straight away. Say no more. However we can then start asking why the writer chose to put in this little discussion with our main characters. Why was it even necessary if Sam and Dean are not going to meet Castiel’s female vessel later on? The answer is to remind the viewer of this very same thing.

Because unfortunately Supernatural still has a lot of narrow minded viewers. It still has an appeal among the straight white dude bros of the American Midwest who watch it for Sam and Dean and their macho attitude and their guns. These are the kind of people who will go on to watch Cas have a female vessel in the past and just not get it one bit (and probably find a forum like reddit in which to moan about it). By having this exchange about Benjamin it is acting as a prior warning, reminding these narrow minded viewers that angels don’t have genders and therefore NEITHER DOES CASTIEL. So suck it up and accept it now because it is canon.

There is also the fact that Castiel has now had this discussion directly with Dean, planting the idea back into Dean’s head that he himself is genderless. That gender and therefore sexuality mean nothing to Castiel. Dean is being reminded along with the audience that Castiel is in no way a “straight white guy in a trench coat”.

Anyway, now to the thing I desperately wanna talk about:

This beautiful angel right here:

I have an awful lot of feelings about female Castiel. Let me tell you. For a start, I keep thinking up scenarios where she can come visit the future or an alternate reality or ANTHING! I just want her to meet Dean and have him have to deal with BOTH Castiel’s in the same room… (because lets be honest we all know what Dean would be thinking… the same thing I am thinking. Lol)

Secondly, on a more meta related point. Castiel had a female vessel. Castiel himself, one of our main characters used to be a woman. (well, technically he is an angel and neither man nor woman but for arguments sake and for the sake of the less open minded CIS straight slightly right leaning audience member let’s just think of it this way for a moment.) This is different from doing it with other side characters. This is important. It is 100% impossible for anyone to argue that Castiel (one of our three main characters) is a CIS straight guy. Impossible. Because Castiel doesn’t have a gender, you cannot define his sexuality. He cannot be straight, because he is not a man who is attracted to women or vice versa. You cannot call him gay for the same reason. (this is of course different to a transgender person who has a defined gender and therefore defines their sexuality based on their gender). He physically does not have a gender, he has had both male and female vessels and is clearly not bothered by gender.

I’m not sure how well I am explaining this, but my point is to consider how this would look to the audience member I described above. The heteronormative audience member who looks at things like destiel and Dean’s bisexuality and goes “what? No way. Dean is straight. Cas is straight. Shut up.” Because they literally would have seen Castiel’s female vessel and had their brains freeze for a moment trying to understand it.

What things like introducing the idea of Cas with a female vessel does to a general audience member is get them thinking about things they would otherwise never consider. It is representation for anything other than the norm (which still is unfortunately the CIS straight white guy). A general audience member would see Cas with a female vessel and think what? Cas used to be a girl? Wow. Imagine if Cas had stayed a girl? How different would that make the show? Well if Cas was a girl she’d be into guys right? (because this meta assumes the G.A to be extremely heteronormative) Wait a sec, does that mean Cas would be into Dean? OMG… and then the cogs would start fitting into place. Basically, it’s a really good thing for us.

The show has done things like this before. I consider it all “testing the waters” personally. Jesse and Cesar from 11x19s “The Chitters” is a brilliant example of this. Because again, that audience member I described above is very likely to have a very narrow minded idea of what a gay or bisexual man would look like. They certainly wouldn’t look like Dean Winchester. So what does Supernatural do? It introduces us to a homosexual married couple who are the polar opposite of that stereotypical gay man as portrayed in mainstream media. Instead, we get a couple of gay/bisexual guys who are eerily similar to Dean Winchester in their macho gruff plaid wearing way and this would very much confuse the heteronormative G.A viewer.

So what we end up with is Supernatural pushing the boundaries of what its G.A viewer would expect. Castiel used to be a woman. Macho manly plaid wearing hunters can be happily gay married. GOD can be bisexual and eat bacon. Now ask yourselves honestly. Would the show have even dared to do these things 6 years ago??

What does this tell us? Why on earth would Supernatural be pushing to defy these expectations? What is the show trying to say with this narrative?

Basically all I’m saying is keep a look out for anything in future episode that would “defy mainstream expectations”. Because in a show like Supernatural with such a long history, this kind of thing is unheard of. Unless it has a reason for wanting to try these things out of course…

Castiel’s emotional arc

I always seem to be going on about this in my meta’s. But GUYS it is SUCH a big deal right now. I SAID that Andrew Dabb would not let us down. I SAID that he would explore this further. I knew that it would get more screen time. I WAS RIGHT. Through this episode we get so much more to explore with Castiel (and that’s not including the female vessel and all the destiel goodness). Okay so starting at the beginning HOW AWESOME IS SASSY GRUMPY CAS? I love him so much. HASHTAG MARRIED AM I RIGHT?

How awesome is it that our wonderful Sam Winchester is sticking up for his friend/brother-in-law here? Because bless his heart Sam just gets it. What Cas did was no different to what Dean or Sam would have done. Dean is being unreasonable because he is super worried that his husband has put himself into horrible danger. Sam on the other hand, sees the situation for what it really is and fights Cas’s corner for him when he isn’t there to do it himself. And when Cas is there to fight himself? Oh Boy does he!

This episode gave us a Sam Winchester who truly cares for his friend. Bless Steve Yokey for really driving this point home throughout the episode. Sam and Dean BOTH care about Cas. Both LOVE him and both respect him, just in different ways. And FINALLY Cas is starting to see this. Especially because he overhears this conversation. He knows that Sam is fighting for him and then instead of getting upset or letting his depression sink its teeth in further, he fights alongside Sam.

“I WAS doing the right thing.” He says.

This is a Cas who is completely over being disrespected and will not take any shit from his silly husband anymore. He is standing up for himself and gives as good as he gets and this has been something we have seen more of this season (since Dabb took the reins). Less of the Cas who doesn’t understand human sayings and metaphors and more of a Cas who is showing just how much he has picked up from his stupid husband and can snap back with a remark just as witty, (I’m still snickering over the lumberjack comment from 12x07).

When we get to the bar Cas’s reaction to Benjamin’s burn marks is quite severe for him. He shows clear distress over it and snaps at the poor barman, breaking character while doing so. I have a question for anyone who wants to answer it: Is this the first time that Sam and Dean would have clearly seen the evidence of the angels wings burning? Have they seen burnt wing marks to this extent before? If not then this could be distressing for Castiel for several reasons. One is that his friend is dead, two is that the evidence of his friends death is crudely displayed on the wall, three is that those clearly burnt wing marks remind Castiel of his own burnt wings and four Dean and Sam and anyone else in the room are also able to gawp at the evidence of the angel fall (which Cas still blames himself for). Basically distressing all around. This shows us plainly that even though Cas is stronger and once again out and fighting the game (unlike in season 11), he is still clearly traumatised by his past.

I feel I need to quickly mention the angel blade here… I thought that it was just a headcanon found in fanfic that angel’s each had an individual blade that belonged to them? Connected to their grace somehow? Has the show ever confirmed this previously? Did I miss something? Or did Yokey just bring another fanfiction headcanon to life? Because suddenly my mind is flashing to “Path of the Fireflies” and if you have read that fic you would know why. This episode is the gift that keeps on giving.

So we should come to expect now that whenever Castiel is going to be interacting with other angels that they are gonna be super dicks to him, and this diner scene is no exception.

“You kept your vessels all this time”

“We are not careless”.

All this makes me think is that something happened to Cas’s previous vessel and I wanna know what now. The comment was definitely meant to insult so just what exactly happened to Cas’s previous vessel? Did she get harmed? Did he get expelled from her somehow? We know absolutely nothing about his vessels name (though the speculation that she is part of Jimmy Novaks bloodline makes solid sense). Though maybe Castiel just returned to heaven without his vessel because he didn’t feel like he needed her anymore, and returned her to her human life? Though remembering his reaction when Hannah chose to release Caroline kinda implies maybe he didn’t treat his former vessel that well. Its not like he treated Jimmy Novak all that well really is it? Its all just another load of guilt to pile on Castiel’s heavy shoulders.

This whole conversation is so extremely hostile too. Dragging things up that we haven’t had mentioned in the show in ages. Balthazar! Oh my gosh poor Cas we know he suffers horrendous guilt over that.

“Is he a hero? Is he a spanner in the works? I don’t know” Once again we are getting the same questions we have been getting over and over again. What are you Castiel? Once again. Castiel doesn’t answer directly. Also the line “Spanner in the works” is a massive call back to Naomi and this line: “You're the famous spanner in the works. Honestly, I think you came off the line with a crack in your chassis. You have never done what you were told. Not completely. You don't even die right, do you?” and honestly now I am just screeching again because this is more hints that maybe Castiel was made different. What with the other themes of this episode I can’t help but relate this to the speculation about Castiel having a soul. He flinched when he heard the screams coming from the house as Ishim killed Lily’s child. He was never cold. I am still one of those who head canons that Chuck made Castiel different on purpose, and that Castiel has at least grown a soul since he was human if he didn’t already have the ability to grow one built in him.

“When I knew Castiel he was a soldier… a warrior… he was an angels angel… now look how far he’s fallen”. Seriously. Aside from the call back to 7x21 what on earth is an “angel’s angel” anyway? The reason for all of this talk of course is to get the audience thinking about exactly what Castiel is now. To get the characters questioning it. It all plays into his emotional development arc. Eventually, he will be able to stand up and say exactly what he is with certainty. But right now, we are still in major grey areas with Cas and his motivations.

“No wings, no home. Just a ratty old coat and a pair of poorly trained monkeys” Whats funny about this line, is that Ishim just listed Castiel’s home. No he doesn’t have wings, but he doesn’t really need them, because he has his truck and the impala of course. His home is the bunker, as he has been referring to it as “home” since 10x23. That “ratty old coat” is Cas’s identity, his armour, and those “poorly trained monkeys” are his family. Ishim looks down on these things, but it is Ishim who will display jealousy towards Castiel in the end. Because Castiel has far more than Ishim has.

“I used to envy you Castiel do you believe that? You survived hell, you were chosen by God. Now look at you, you’re just sad, and pathetically weak.” We have heard lines like this from other angels over and over again relating to Castiel, but here we get an angel admitting that he envied Cas (as he still does). The “chosen by God” line is interesting bearing in mind it comes after we have had a rather disappointing few episodes with God in them that never resolved Cas’s issues with his father. At least the show is still reinforcing that this is the truth even if it wasn’t directly addressed at the time (which if my recollection is correct was due to too much story being shoved into the last few episodes – or at least so said several people including Jared).

Castiel’s speech to Lily at the end though is heartbreaking because this is Cas accepting that he is in the wrong. I have said before that there isn’t another character in this show who carries as much guilt as Cas (Sam being a close second) and this moment just heightens the depths of his humanity. His ability to admit his wrongs, to accept that he has caused pain and to also accept that perhaps that person won’t be able to spare him. To accept that if they feel the punishment is just, he will just kneel down and accept execution. THAT is how far the depths of his guilt go. He is sorry. He is so so fucking sorry for the pain he has caused, and not just Lily, but all of the guilt he carries for all his crimes.

After moments like this I just wanna scream at the haters who claim Cas is nothing but a fuck up who doesn’t care. HE CARES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THIS ENTIRE FUCKING SHOW. He is inherently so so fucking GOOD in his core and at times like this, after scenes like this, how is it possible to believe that Cas still doesn’t have a soul?

Honestly though it kills me that Cas still blames himself for crimes that I still think are totally heavens fault, or the fault of other angels. Cas has been manipulated at heaven throughout the entirety of his existence right up until only a few seasons ago, then they started torturing him whenever they got hold of him because they didn’t like that he turned his back on them. ARGH it makes me so MAD at heaven. This episode is yet further proof that heaven is nothing good and has nothing to give Castiel but pain. I honestly can’t see any other way that his story could go that to have him eventually turn his back on heaven for good. Not because he has been shunned by the angels, but because he chooses to shun them. Because he is better than them.

This is why I am convinced that his emotional arc will end with him accepting that the guilt he carries is not his alone to bare, that it is the responsibility of all of heaven and at that point, Castiel will be able to walk away. To admit that he was better than them all along. To realise that he deserves a life, a home, and most of all that he deserves love in every meaning of the word. Castiel will be able to free himself of that guilt and say farewell to heaven, instead accepting a human life, to reflect his own humanity, and find happiness in that.

Lily Sunder

I just need to point out that I love this character. Supernatural does enjoy giving us red headed ladies! So the first thing I noticed about Lily Sunder was how she reminded me of our very own Charlie. Probably because of this:

Also because the game themed bar at the beginning automatically made me think of Charlie as well. Why is Lily a Charlie mirror? I’m not sure about that one. She is a woman who has been severely wronged by the Supernatural, and yet this was partly because she was obsessed with the Supernatural to begin with. Lily was obsessed with angels and learning all about them, Charlie was looking for her quest, her adventure. Both Lily and Charlie had affairs with Supernatural beings and both Lily and Charlie were made powerless at one point. Where this lack of power cost Charlie her life, it cost Lily her soul. I was saying to @elizabethrobertajones whilst still screeching after my first watch that I thought this episode channelled the writing of Robbie Thompson, and I couldn’t really explain why other than Yokey just seems clued in to the important issue and the things that the fandom cares about. Robbie’s episodes were always chock full of meta and left us with a happy glowy feeling afterwards and I think Yokey has somehow mastered this. (something bucklemming have been unable to do in 6 freaking seasons).

But then there is also this homage to Charlie Bradbury in this character that Yokey has created. The visual imagery of Lily is undeniably based on Charlie. The eye patch alone would have been enough to go on but that along with everything else is telling us something. This episode was about our Charlie mirror taking her power back after all. Maybe it was in a way, an acknowledgement to us and our pain over Charlie’s death. A silent nod to fandom and an admittance that it was a mistake? But then, I could totally be reading too far into that based on my own broken heart.

The other and probably more important mirror for Lily in the episode is Dean. Lily is a Dean mirror through and through. Lily “dreamed about angels” all her life, whereas Dean spent his life with his mothers voice in his head saying “angels are watching over you”. Lily studied angels and learnt to speak fluent enochion. Whilst Dean isn’t fluent he has an excellent knowledge of angels as this episode showed with a fancy new sigil that we haven’t seen before. We know Dean knows his stuff. Lily was awed by the first angel she saw “it was like looking into the face of the divine” and we all remember Dean’s reaction to seeing Cas. Yet just like Dean, when angels came into Lily’s life they ruined it for her. Yes, like Dean, she had an angelic protector, whom she shared an ambiguous relationship with. Like Dean, she was devoted to her child (because Dean has always been framed as Sam’s parent) and also like Dean, thanks to angels, that child was taken from her (Sam’s sacrifice in Swan Song). Lily’s story is a tragic worst case scenario for Dean, and also for Cas and Sam. I touched on this in part 1, as the themes here are heavily connected to destiel with Cas playing the parts of both Ishim and Akabel at various points throughout Supernatural’s long run.

The other really interesting things about Lily were:

“You’ll be amazed what a person can do with a little bit of purpose and an abundance of time” Lily had a hell of a lot of patience. Her focus was revenge, “Revenge is all I’ve had for a hundred years. It’s all I am” like many side characters we see in the show. The themes of revenge and waiting years and years to get it is one that supernatural has been exploring again and again over the past few seasons. Jesse and Cesar spring to mind. With Jesse finally getting his revenge before retiring to New Mexico with his husband. Jesse was also a Dean mirror. What is the show trying to tell us about this? The Winchesters story is built on a revenge mission. The revenge mission of their father. However that has been over for a long time, and now with the return of their mother is it even relevant any more? All these side characters still dealing with their revenge missions? Is this telling us that our wayward sons really should be laying their weary heads to rest now? Its over? Lily said revenge was all she was. She also said that it was destroying her soul:

“Everytime I use one of their spells a piece of my soul burns away”

So what does this tell us about Dean? After everything he has been through, every heartbreak, every fight, isn’t it time he was also done? Lily lost her family, her revenge was all she had. But Dean still has his family around him. Perhaps he should quit whilst he’s ahead too before more trouble finds him? After what Cas did in the last episode, and given who Cas’s mirror was here, the foreshadowing is pretty damn gloomy… especially for Sam. But emotionally, the boys are all on better ground at the end of this episode, and it’s about damn time.

Overall

This episode was a tornado of meta madness. The character growth and development in this episode alone is in some ways more than we’ve seen in whole seasons. I couldn’t be happier. The flashback scene was visually stunning, and I will never be over fem!cas. She was amazing.

The very fact that this episode was all about angel/human relationships still fills me with glee. What tops this off is that the primary relationship of the episode was Dean and Cas’s. They were actual husbands this episode, and no one would agree with me more on that fact than poor long suffering Sam. Who brought humour and fun and sympathy and support in all his glory.

This episode was fanfiction brought to life, and I mean that in the best possible way. It was like one of those super juicy case fic hurt/comfort stories that’s around the 50k mark and pulls you in and you can’t stop reading the damn thing. Of course its such a slow burn you are driving yourself crazy, but it has such a satisfying ending... those are always gems to find.

I could write so much more. But my head is hurting, I don’t want to delay this any longer and I think I am done. This episode was wonderful. I have watched it 5 times and I would watch it again. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. Steve Yokey is fast becoming my favourite writer on the show and filling the hole left by Robbie Thompson’s departure. I can’t wait for his next episode. I’m gonna leave it there. Please check out part 1 if you haven’t already for all the destiel goodness.

#supernatural #destiel #castiel #dean winchester #lily sunder has some regrets #spn meta #episode review #12x10 #spn spoilers #season 12 #steve yokey #my meta #my review

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nothingneverforever · 8 years ago

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Remember Me (2010)

Hmm

It would be accurate to say that I hated this almost wholeheartedly until the last and extremely rushed act when there was some actual, on-screen emotion that didn’t leave implied connections to be made by the viewer, but then this emotion was still very thin anyway and hinged totally on the viewer’s own associative understanding of the 9/11 attacks and less so on loss in general, so perhaps it is better to simply say that I hated this, period.

I remember avoiding this back when it was first released (on DVD at least, I didn’t go to the cinemas for anything besides crap back in 2010. Not that this film isn’t crap….cos it is) for some reason, I think maybe it was rated M18 or something and strangely for an early teen I did usually dutifully avoid such rated films because I didn’t (and still don’t) like explicit scariness or sexualness in any form. And then later on when I had lost interest in the genre (drama/romance?) but gained interest in Robert Pattinson, I still avoided this because it looked dumb. Anyway, we’ve made it here today and I sit eating my nice lentil dinner having just finished the film. So let’s go !

Okay firstly… I am not surprised at all at its 27% rotten tomatoes rating lol

Maybe it’s personal to me, but I really hate playfighting couples. I talked about it <<here>> briefly, exactly 2 years ago in my Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) review:

This scene, of Clementine and Joel play-fighting got me rather angry. I hate hate hate it when couples, people, do dangerous shit for fun.

^Lmao, rather angry wtf? The writing sucks lol hate it…… But this still stands; in Remember Me the playfighting is not ‘dangerous’ as it was in Eternal Sunshine, but equally successful in making me rather angry in its annoying grossness. Is it unfair for me to find it childish?! Like the fuck??? Where’s the fun in getting each other wet and forcing each other into submission in the shower?! And as complained about to Jade, self-aware, intertextual, referential, whatever the term for it is, scenes, dialogues, films, are as annoying as ones done in earnest.

Okay this playfighting scene was a one off, but it is absolutely extrapolate-able and gives insight to why Ally’s character was so phony and wobbly. Ally ultimately stands for nothing, all her quirks don’t create a whole, and as a result we can anticipate nothing from her nor can we actually feel for her at all. That I have dessert before the main scene was shockingly out of place because its manic pixie dream girl brazenness and eccentricity don’t present itself anywhere else. Full transcript of her dumbass dialogue (re: why she has dessert before the main. Substituting their names with Girl/Guy cos that’s literally all they are, their chemistry is so absent and their connection so fucking blah that they are any and every guy/girl ever):

GIRL: I just don't see the point in waiting. What if l die eating my vindaloo?

GUY: Is that probable?

GIRL: It's possible. Embolism bursts, asteroid hits the restaurant. I'd die without having eaten the one thing l wanted most.

GUY: l mean, the odds are...

GIRL: Tell you what. Guarantee me, swear to me on your eternal soul that l make it through my entre, and I'll wait. Before you answer, if l die, you're gonna have to live the rest of your life knowing not only did you lie to me, but you denied me of my one last indulgence. My last wish. Are you prepared to shoulder that kind of responsibility to prove a point?

If you feel like that second bit (swear to me on your eternal soul etc etc ad nauseam) went on for far longer than its logical reach, you’re right, and you’re lucky you didn’t have to sit through it. “Are you prepared to shoulder that kind of responsibility to prove a point?” - eh, i don’t remember anyone but you having a dumbass point you were desperate to prove, unprovoked?? I don’t know, I don’t think this is specific to the film’s storytelling or scriptwriting, I just generally am averse to such people in real life (same with the playfighting issue I guess). Like Jade said when I complained about this scene to her, it reminded of her Zoe Kazan’s character in What If? (2013) which we barely emerged from alive. Fuck that film lol seriously. Sorry I made yall sit through it… But Daniel Rafcliffe is so nice :’( Okay but how should I best describe these increasingly commonplace female characters? Manic pixie dream girl doesn’t suffice anymore (lmao I googled MPDG just so I could get ideas of other prototypes and wiki lists Belle from the 1991 Beauty and the Beast as one?!), and I feel that they do belong to a specific type. Just reading the dialogue above, don’t a handful of other annoyingass “””not like other girls””” girls from film come to mind? I don’t know, does ‘fake-witty’ cover enough ground? Like Jade says, why do people even enjoy these characters? Just because they are different from what is commonly shown doesn’t make them more endearing or likable or even remotely realistic surely?

In general, MPDGs are dangerous because their blinded male lovers don’t seem them in any real measure, more as designs of their own, existing to imbue their own lives with all they are missing. But in Remember Me, we don’t even get to see how Guy sees Girl, much less see her for our own selves. Guy and Girl barely share a meaningful eyeline, I can’t recall a single intimate or perfectly honest conversation, which leads me to……

UGH I’m tired of big screen romances having their highs shown almost exclusively through physical intimacy, because this message is completely toxic, and this is not just me spreading my asexual agenda honestly? Seriously, how much of a copout is it for the connection to be, you know, ambling on just fine, nothing special or sparkly, until that one kiss or that one morning-after with a camera pan of the girl’s bare back kissed with soft dusty morning sunlight and the guy looking at her from the window with some kind of stupidass serious contemplation? Can we not be led to believe that this is how connections are formed, that you know someone when you know their body? It’s like that song, Suzanne by Leonard Cohen , that Leila used to play over and over when we sat alone at the pagoda every Tuesday, an hour early for our organic farming sessions, which I now love because it reminds me of those nice sunny times and nice sunny Leila who I loved so much, but bleghhh this line plz stop: And you know that she will trust you/For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.

I know, it’s obvious, Guy and Girl here are each other’s safe places in a world where so much is messy and dark for them, etc etc etc, but we don’t get a sense of the warmth at all, we don’t see how much they love/need/appreciate each other or why.

Conclusion: I do not ship Guy and Girl because there was literally nothing to go off on and therefore the entire emotional premise cannot stand and we cannot love anyone or anything we see on screen.

Moving on~

Okay it’s unfair to compare the two just because of the 9/11 relevance, but seeing this reminded me of When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman that I read in 2011. It remains one of my all-time favourite books, and I remember liking it so much I lent it to Rebecca, and then later Nichole, and Krysia, and maybe some others. Lol cute memories, being in school, with girls, nice girls, wearing a uniform, sitting outside the class on the steps by the grass patch…2011 was chill as hell. ANYWAY the book changed my life and I remember sobbing in my bed when I first read it, because 9/11 being woven into the storyline felt authentic and necessary and actually helpful to our understanding of its characters – what little I’ve read of the critiques of Remember Me from Rotten Tomatoes decry its opportunist, ‘piggybacking’ of the tragedy. I’m sure everything I feel about the cheapness of the 9/11 insertion has already been written about, and my arms /shoulders hurt from my heaviest clean and press sets ever last night, so let me look for something that speaks what is in my heart.

Okie, found something close enough:

I hate this movie. I hate it a lot. And I want to spoil the ending right here but I won't. I want you to go feel the same feeling of being sucker-punched that I anti-enjoyed in the final minutes when THE BIG SURPRISE ENDING takes place. Because it's cheap. And shallow. And manipulative in a way that's not heartwarming or cute or moving. It's just gross and infuriating. It's also pretty easy to predict: a rug-pulling, emotionally pornographic climax of tragedy-kitsch that will come to you early if you're willing to pay attention to small details here and there, things the movie just puts in the background or touches on briefly, creating a timeline and an inevitable outcome that it finally shoves in your face with a big, "TA-DAAAH! TIME TO CRY EVERYONE! DO IT! NOW!" (source)

Ah this doesn’t fit in anywhere else so here is an important stand-alone comment: fuck the opening of the film! Honestly is it naiveté that I don’t believe something like that would happen? Okay not that it would never, but it’s certainly not probable? Who the fuck shoots the individual, a mother to a young (and present!) girl no less, they successfully rob and are getting away comfortably from? I don’t wanna be this person but………..it seemed damn racist lol

Okay so obviously it’s the cheapest technique in the book but I am a sucker for voiceovers, especially ones that open and/or close films (I’m sure there’s a technical term for this, but whatever). Okay well not all, the dumbass fake deep quotes that the Twilight series open with are, well, dumbass. But the film series still rocks :-) fight me if u disagree :-) But okay the point is that Remember Me ends with Tyler (whose life we know to have just been taken by the 9/11 attacks) and this stupidly moving voiceover narration:

Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it's very important that you do it, because nobody else will. Like when someone comes into your life, and half of you says, "You're nowhere near ready," but the other half says, "Make her yours forever." Michael, Caroline asked me what l would say if I knew you could hear me. I said l do know. "I love you. God, l miss you. And I forgive you."

Sorry but…………..that is just truly so stupidly moving. :’( I need my inspiration spoon-fed with zero subtlety, and this did just that. I will indeed do all I want to in life! Nobody else will! I’m gonna make her mine forever! And I truly miss and love everyone who has ever been in my life!

Since we’re on the positives now let me also generously add that there was in fact a lot of potential in the film. Which…naturally….only made it all the more disappointing. But, okay, there was a lot of richness in the subplots. Maybe too much, because it was slightly stifling, how little space they were given. But that’s only realistic right? That one guy and one girl should have at any time a hundred other things going on in their lives that aren’t played out on centre stage. So that’s good, yay. Robert Pattinson’s sister’s narrative especially was quite unique, subtle, engaging, and all in all a nice character to follow. It taught me things about the various ways in which mettle presents itself in different people, and made me want to know how to stand my ground more convincingly. I have a long way to go in denouncing cowardice. Again, I think the voiceovers helped in this respect. Pushes the viewer just enough while holding them back in the right ways, deepening roots while inspiring upward growth. Nice!

Okay I think I’m done……..gtg eat lunch

No offence but Miley Cyrus’ new song Malibu contains and inspires ten times the emotion that this film did. This being said, I did cry in one of the final shots, of Pierce Brosnan bringing his daughter round (presumably) the Met. Only cos he’s a good actor though. Like everything else in the final act of the film, his character’s growth was very heavy-handed and traditional but he played it well. Also Malibu rocks. Also I need to stop listening to pop music :’( save me!

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