#I say this but there are unfortunately the exceptions of series with predominantly male characters that get all the action

[houndfaker]

male characters are always Low Priority for me SORRY!!! I WANT TO THINK ABOUT WOMEN !!!

[piduai]

this has been on my mind for a while, i feel like at this point women mangaka are generally just better people than their male peers. id love to hear some manga ud recommend by women, or even counterpoints, but series like Dungeon Meshi and Full Metal Alchemist (among others) handle almost every concept way better and with more tact, from writing complex stories and compelling characters, to treating women like people and not literal naked rubber dolls colored in and posed like p*rn

you are so correct and right and speak the truth. female mangaka are superior. the only thing i’d say women don’t do inherently better is technical skill, there’s a ton of men who are very artistically talented, but arts such as drawing and music are sexless because they come from within and aren’t influenced by external factors such as upbringing and culture like storytelling is. everything else though is done better by women.

the problem with female mangaka is that they’re gatekept in the industry big time. if you google ‘top selling manga of all time’ and go to the wikipedia page, there’s only one woman (kimetsu no yaiba) and she’s hiding behind a male pen name just like arakawa hiromi did when fma was publishing. neither of these are a coincidence. women are generally discouraged from pursuing writing, and if they do so they’re supposed to be kept to female-catering genres such as shoujo, josei and BL, which are all much less mainstream, aka much less known and much less money making, than shounen. women having to go behind male-sounding pen names just so men don’t feel emasculated when consuming their stories has been a thing since forever across many different cultures. misogyny is universal.

however since i personally am more into grittier stuff and i love gratuitous violence and other Mature Themes i just naturally gravitate more towards manime with all its faults. my favorite genre overall is comedy though and women ARE much funnier and wittier and more clever. female mangaka also typically avoid drawing gore, which i guess is cultural but a shame.

i’m not a manga person, i prefer watching anime, so i compiled a list of my favorite anime based on manga written by women a while ago. i am VERY picky and nitpicky and very, very difficult to please so keep in mind that the list is not comprehensive in the slightest, it’s just things that i personally liked. there’s tons of non-shoujo stuff written by women that generally have a good reputation (ao no exorcist, gangsta, kuroshitsuji, noragami, d gray man, magi, xxxholic etc etc etc) that didn’t stand out to me at all so again, short as it may be the list isn’t comprehensive in the slightest, i’m sure that people who are more easily entertained than me could come up with much more names. anyway everything else is copy-pasted, i know you know of fmab but it needs to be included because fmab is my favorite series of all times:

anime based on manga created by female writers that is in fact not heterosexual shoujo/BL garbage and i liked (bc i saw a post talking about female mangakas and all of the examples were in fact heterosexual shoujo/BL garbage that i unfortunately do not like and my anime opinions are super important obviously):

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood (adventure/action) any comments on why fmab is the best product the anime industry has ever put on the market that will not be outranked ever is tired at this point. fmab is a masterpiece through and through. most of the cast including the mcs is male tho, which is sad

saraiya goyou (historical/drama) if fmab didn’t exist it would have been the best title out there. the word masterpiece was invented solely to have a concept to describe it. the ost makes up about 40% of its greatness and was also written by a woman. too bad all the characters are also dudes

acca: 13ku kansatsuka (drama/political) not quite as good as saraiya goyou but from ono natsume as well. pleasant is the word to describe it. relaxing. most of the cast is male.

dorohedoro (horror/gore/comedy) the best title since like 2006. everything about it is great. i don’t have a single criticism and that’s rare. the cast is actually balanced and the Female Characters™ all 3 of them are like, written like people and are also queens

hachimitsu to clover (slice of life) saddest shit i’ve seen in my whole life in a colorful packaging. heterosexual as hell but not in an obnoxious way. cast seems diverse but it’s predominantly male

3gatsu no lion (drama) from the same great umino chica who is a master at writing uncomfortable truths and playing on emotions. she’s great truly, her character crafting is genuine but it gets under your skin, it’s filled with melancholy. 3gatsu is actually better than hachimitsu to clover but 1) i have history with the former so i like it better and 2) it was produced by shaft which is a sin in itself. they did a great job and all, i just hate the studio. has 3 speaking female characters in total but all 3 are great.

hoozuki no reitetsu (comedy) it’s hilarious it’s fresh it’s pretty it’s original it’s creative it’s clever. i love everything about it. the whole cast is male with like 2 exceptions and a rabbit (best girl).

saiunkoku monogatari (historical) i know it LOOKS like heterosexual shoujo garbage but it in fact isn’t. fits the reverse harem trope solely because everyone is in love with mc, but there’s next to no actual romance in it. unironically a feminist power fantasy. i’m still shooketh at how incredibly pleasant it turned out to be. the mc is a young girl but the rest of the cast is almost exclusively male.

arakawa under the bridge (comedy) surprisingly… by shaft again. maybe i am prejudiced. anyway, hilarious to a fault. is technically centered around a str8 romance but it’s not too invasive so whatever. cast is pretty balanced and the women are written smartly.

saint oniisan (comedy) THE funniest thing i’ve ever watched, or nearly. it’s just great. same author as above. cast exclusively male

doukyuusei (gay romance) which i refuse to categorize as BL simply because it’s not BL. it’s a good gay story, arguably the best one yet. cast is exclusively male but i mean lmao

gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun (comedy) straight to A FAULT but funny nevertheless. is, technically, heterosexual shoujo garbage. but SOME heterosexual shoujo garbage can stay i guess. cast is balanced, there’s still more male characters tho

gokusen (comedy/action) which i don’t remember much about except kumiko being best girl and me liking it. if i remember liking it it means it was good overall just not memorable. cast is exclusively male except mc.

kaleido star (sports) which is the ONLY good, or like decent, or like watchable sports anime, the rest don’t exist. not based on a manga but the writer is a woman which is strongly felt through and through. good story about perseverance and will and optimism and competition. cast is predominantly female and all of them are wonderfully written

michiko to hatchin (adventure) again no manga but main writer is the woman known for creating the skating BL people pretend isn’t BL. michiko to hatchin is way better than the skating BL, but i’m just a humble girl. tons of sexy sexy i could have lived without but otherwise good shit. cast predominantly female.

mushishi (mystery/fantasy) mushishi is just unique. it has similar vibes to saraiya goyou and natsume sure, but ultimately it’s one of its kind. it has what ghibli wants. again no criticism about it at all except that it’s SO chill that binging it is super tiring. cast is predominantly male but it has few reoccurring characters so who cares.

natsume yuujinchou (mystery/fantasy) again similar to mushishi but less grim. chill story, the definition of wholesome unproblematic etc whatever kids are into these days. cast predominantly male but not memorable in the slightest

petshop of horrors (horror) watched it a million years ago so don’t remember shit but i do remember liking it. cast is probably predominantly male

sakamoto desu ga (comedy) well THE actual funniest thing i’ve ever watched, it licherally had me in tears, i watched the new episodes like 3 times on the days they came out, including watching them on tv in real time at like 3 am or whenever it aired in shinya. just really really funny. cast predominantly male.

[y-ildthoughts]

WHY R U? THE SERIES FULL REVIEW

So now that the series has come to an end, I feel like I should summarize my feelings about WHY R U? the series, because honestly there are a lot of them.

When I heard the initial premise, I was very excited, a series about the fantasy story of a BL fan girl! It seemed like an original idea with a lot of potential for different narratives. A new way for fan girls to be satisfied; seeing their imaginations played out on screen as part of the script, and not just as fan service or in a fan fiction.

When the cast was announced I'll be the first to admit I didn't know any of the other actors apart from Saint. However, the lure of Saint in another BL role was more than enough to persuade me to anticipate the series. His previous role in LBC was carried out superbly. In fact, I learnt that the accent he put used for that series (which annoyed me greatly as a viewer initially) was an artistic choice for that character specifically, which makes me respect him as an actor even more.

By the end of the first episode, I was left with some rather conflicting opinions. Nevertheless, I continued to watch, episode by episode and have finally come to some sort of conclusion. It's a rather messy and confusing thought process but hopefully you can bear with me.

At first, I was off put by the jumpy plot, the narrative follows the characters along at the pace of a fan fiction, with little to no filler to explain how characters go from to enemies to friends in a single leap. The argument I've heard raised against this is that it's -meant- to be like that. Which I can appreciate, and I applaud the writers for their work, but I also think there's a reason that rarely if ever books are directly translated to screen in that manner.

However, I will say that once the relationships between characters- mostly Saifah and Zon - had settled that this style of plot development bothered me less and less and instead I found myself egging on the romantic tropes the two encountered.

As I've said I previously hadn't encountered any of the other actors before but now that I've watched the whole series, I have to say that they put together a really great cast. It's actually also a rather large cast I think, so I'll try to mention the actors that really stood out for me, but I don't think I can write about everyone.

Starting with the main cast:

Tommy Sittichok Pueakpoolpol plays Zon, and although this was not his first professional work it is arguably his biggest project to date. I think he plays the character very well. There is a sudden change in his character from stubborn to endearing; but this comes with the change in equilibrium of his relationship with Saifah and is therefore understandable.  Overall, I really enjoyed this character's journey and especially fell in love with his soft boi persona that he has adapted to by the end of the series.

For his first ever professional works Jimmy Karn Kritsanaphan did a really well to undertake such a big role as Saifah. That being said, the characters integrality within the plot was not reflected equally to his time on the screen.  It could be due to the point of view that the series is shot from - predominantly Zon and Tutor's- that we don't get to see this character’s development in greater detail.

Zee Pruk Panich and Saint Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana play Fighter and Tutor respectively. I mention these two actors together because putting the more adult scenes aside, these two actors show such great chemistry and tension between their characters, there's a real push-and- pull between them which I think really draws you into their storyline. Also, I think they really deserve recognition for the "hard carry" they did of the series' last few episodes after the corona virus outbreak.

As is typical of Thai BL series due to their nature, I feel that female actresses in these series have to work especially hard to gain recognition for their roles beyond being hated for keeping a male couple apart. Refreshingly in this series Zol played by Perth Veerinsara Tangkitsuvanich has a rather neutral yet involved role in the narrative. She particularly shines in giving a comical and expressive performance whilst maintaining verisimilitude. The other stand out female actress from this series for me is Janistar Phomphadungcheep who plays Hwahwa, is obviously gorgeous, and part of her role is dependent on that. More than that though she executes Hwahwa's brand of "dumb" comedy hilariously well, so well in fact that she easily defies the typical reaction that a female love interest ensues.

And finally, without going into too much detail I also have to give special mentions to Nat Natasitt Uareksit who plays Blue, Poppy Ratchapong Anomakiti playing Junior and James Rusameekae Fagerlund as Kae. Throughout the series these three actors all had what have to be considered scene stealing moments.

Maybe it's just me but all I found myself wanting to do was to protect Blue from his older love interests, as his sweet demeanour is revealed. Junior's "waterfall" moment upon seeing the engineer gang in the cafeteria in episode one really set the president for his comedic moments throughout the series, as rare as they were. P'Kae is the boss we all wish we had, and his protective streak when it comes to Tutor has definitely earned him a place as a fan favourite from the series.

One of the biggest talking points of the series has got to be its method of shooting and how that has affected the entire production. The production was shot live, meaning that each episode was shot and edited before it was released for broadcast each week, with the exception of some scenes. To shoot live requires quite the commitment from both cast and crew, it's also an incredibly risky method of shooting as any number of unforeseen circumstances can occur and interrupt shooting which has a direct effect on the entire production. Hence why live shooting is less common nowadays. However, the team definitely deserves credit for this decision as without the corona virus outbreak I think that this method would have benefitted the production overall.

That being said unfortunately the outbreak has forced many productions to shut down, and of course this has negatively affected the production of this series too, possibly more so than others that are in production stages currently. As such more casual fans of the series that may be unaware of the situation, and therefore not understand the reasoning behind the shift of focus from around episode eight and nine when the virus began to affect production. When in actuality the team should really be applauded for managing to still broadcast such coherent episodes under the circumstances.

Is it a perfect ending to the series; with a broad oversight of each character, couple and relationship that the viewer may desire? No, I would regretfully say that it doesn't manage to reach these criteria, but it makes a damn good effort to try, and this valiant effort is spearheaded by what should be categorized as a FighTor fan's dream. Endless scenes of the two characters exploring the more intimate side of their relationship. Which is actually a rather fitting filler for the series considering it is meant to be a fan girl dream story. So without these scenes I'm not sure that the series stands up with the  storyline as it is. However, this doesn't and shouldn't distract at all from the stellar acting performances that we've seen from this series.

So, congratulations if you've managed to make it this far and read the whole review, my thoughts on the series were decipherable enough through the review, I hope.

[killscreencinema]

Final Fantasy XV (PlayStation 4)

A Final Fantasy for fans and first timers... is the first words we’re greeted by as we boot up Final Fantasy XV, ya know, the one with a hunky all male cast of four who look like a K-pop band. 

Though, to be fair, as far as equality in sexual objectification is concerned, it doesn’t take long before absurdly scantily clad ladies show up in the game in the form of Cindy, a friendly auto mechanic, with a distinct Southern twang, and a penchant for prominently displaying her decolletage*; and Aranea Highwind, a Dragoon and, I can only assume from her outfit, S&M enthusiast.

*To elaborate on this point, Cindy has a tendency to move in very unnatural ways during conversation, such as bending or leaning forward, like she’s practicing her Maxim cover pose, which serves no other purpose than give the player a good look at her cleavage.  While this is an unfortunately common trope in anime and video games, it bugs me... not because for SJW reasons, more because NOBODY MOVES LIKE THIS!

Anywhoozles, I guess my point is that before this game was released, it seemed like there was a lot of bitching about the main boy band cast, but let Cindy and Aranea serve as reminders that Final Fantasy XV is an anomaly in an industry that normally caters predominantly to straight males. 

End of rant - on with the review!

Final Fantasy XV, released by Square Enix in 2016, starts off with the main character, Noctis, crown prince of the kingdom of Lucia, setting off on a road trip with his buddies... his entourage if you will... as one last hurrah before he gets married to the lovely Lunafreya.  While gone, though, the capital city of Insomnia is attacked by the evil Niflheim Empire, the king is assassinated, and a power Crystal is stolen for an unknown, likely destructive, purpose.  To retaliate against the Empire, Noctis and friends travel the countryside in search of the Royal Arms, powerful relics left by previous Lucian kings, as well as the blessings of the godlike Astrals in order to gain their assistance in the battle ahead.

Say what you will about the bro-ness of it all, the plot is nice and simple, with a fairly clear goal and memorable if somewhat archetypal characters.  Noctis is the reluctant hero with a destiny; Ignis is the snoody intellectual; Gladio is the surly tough guy; and Prompto is the wisecracking lovable loser - the “Ducky” of the group, if I can borrow a reference to Pretty in Pink that only people may age will maybe get.  We’ve seen these characters in hundreds of other stories, but darn it if these protagonists don’t have a charming dynamic with each other that makes bantering fun to listen to (although it gets repetitive as they’ll often repeat the same conversation loops throughout the game - I can’t tell how many times I’ve heard Prince Noctis suddenly whine that it’s too hot before Gladio curtly replies, “Then lose the jacket.”).

The only character I didn’t feel worked as well is the villain Ardyn.  He looks douchey enough, with his MRA fedora and an outfit that looks like a Goodwill vomited on him, but I never felt like I had a clear understanding of his motives nor his connection to Noctis, until its the information is dumped at the climax of the game, and even then, I could barely hear what the hell anyone was saying because the music drowned out the dialogue.  What I could glean of Ardyn’s motivation seemed kind of weak though.  The moment you meet Ardyn, he seems like a harmless weirdo who wants to help, but everyone in the Noctis’ party is immediately wary of his intentions for no real reason except the video game knows he’s the villain.  I feel like reveals such as this are more effective the closer the villain is personally to the protagonist.  Had Ardyn been a trusted chancellor of Noctis’ father, and even a beloved mentor for the prince, masquerading as an ally and one of the few survivors of the Imperial attack, only to betray Noctis as a crucial moment (along the lines of what happens in Altissa that seals the deal as far as Ardyn’s role in the story goes), then I would have felt more investment in this conflict.  Such as it is, I didn’t really give a shit and that’s kind of where the story slowly fell apart for me. 

What I did enjoy all the way through was the gameplay.  This entry of Final Fantasy dispenses with turn-based combat altogether, instead leaning hard into full-on real time fighting reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts. While it’s fast paced and fun, the Final Fantasy fanboy in me still misses the good ol’ fashion slap fight combat the series was built on.  I certainly hope this style of fighting isn’t going to be what we get for the FF7 remake. 

One of my favorite aspects of the combat is how summons work in the game.  As you build alliances with Astrals, you can call on them during battles to assist you with a massive attack so powerful it leaves total devastation in the surrounding environment (which is a beautiful touch). However, you can summon them at will, as the option to summon them only pops up if you meet certain requirements during battle.  For example, if Noctis’ HP is critical and the battle has been going on too long, you may or may not get the option to summon Ramuh (the wizardy lightening god).  While it’s good that the player can’t use these summons whenever they want, as it would GREATLY Nerf the challenge level of the game (these attacks will often end any boss fight instantly), it’s also rather frustrating figuring out how to trigger the summon if only so you can see the cool animation.  Thank goodness for YouTube, I guess!

I really dug the familiar modern aesthetics of our world mixed with a fantasy setting of Lucis.  This is nothing new in the Final Fantasy series, as both Final Fantasy 7, and to a larger degree FF8, both effectively achieved this mix.  Speaking of which, the overall throwback to earlier FF games are nice, such as the idea of an evil Empire equipped with magical technology that they use to dominate the world ala Final Fantasy VI (my personal favorite of the games btw).  Seeing Magitek engines and troops with modern graphics almost makes me pine for a remake of Final Fantasy VI... though I worry such a thing might take the magic out the experience of playing the 16-bit game.

Anyway, while I liked the world of FF 15... I feel like we barely scrape the surface of it.  Whereas in nearly every game in the series you are eventually able to travel the entire world at will, visiting every nook and cranny, with Final Fantasy XV, you’re limited to Noctis’ kingdom of Lucis, a watery Venice-like city called Altissa, and... that’s about it.  It just feels very, very... small.  Also there are invisible barriers, and in a post-BOTW world, this is unacceptable.  Granted this game was probably already nearly complete by the time of Breath of the Wild’s release, nevertheless, games like Skyrim and the entire Elder Scrolls series existed and had little to no invisible barriers.  So my point is this:  invisible barriers are obsolete.   If you consider you game “open world”, artificial barriers shouldn’t exist.  I should be able to jump my Chocobo over a goddamn road barrier like I’m Evil fucking Kenieval, not suddenly have my leap impeded by nothing, forcing me to find a more inconvenient, circuitous route to my destination. 

Anyway, once you begin getting used to the overworld, at some point during the story, the game thrusts you on “rails” and it’s good-bye open world, hello unwelcome Final Fantasy XIII style corridor gameplay.  You can go back to the open world at any point, but that doesn’t make finishing the game any less of a tedious slog.  The game’s momentum comes to a HUGE halt once Noctis is completely separated from his friends and is left wandering the bland, dark corridors of an Imperial lab for what feels like a goddamn eternity. 

So I guess what I’m saying is Final Fantasy XV, an otherwise excellent game, really shits the bed at the climax, but is ultimately still worth checking out.

[altimys]

Winter 2018 anime reviews

Hello, hello. This is a follow-up post to my initial impressions post. I’ll detail how my perception of the animes changed over the season.

Also note that I will not review Violet Evergarden since I’m way too far behind on it. I’ll finish it sometime in the next season once I’m free.

Dropped Animes

The ones that were unbearable.

Citrus

3/10

Like mentioned in the post from the beginning of the season, it just had this unrealistic, trope-driven, incest (but not really) story. Mostly style and little substance, but not even my style. Well, do take this with a grain of salt. I didn’t even finish the first episode.

Pop Team Epic

7/10

I definitely appreciate the experimental and sarcastic nature of this anime. But it wasn’t really worth spending an extra 15 minutes to watch the same thing a second time, especially since I didn’t find all the skits funny. I probably would’ve watched it if they were broken into seven minute segments.

Sanrio Boys

5/10

Too cheesy. Thanks for the “be yourself” message, but I’m not really interested in bishounens parading this every episode. The protagonist’s broken relationship with their grandmother as a sad backstory made me facepalm very hard. If you had advertised this to me about 6 years ago, I may have gobbled it up, but nowadays it’s not my taste.

Darling in the Franxx

5/10

I didn’t pick it back up, and I didn’t really see anything major from twitter or tumblr, except for gifs of the pink haired girl being with her sexy-cute charm. Y’know, the kind of charm where she’s designed to be appealing in a sexy, vampiric way, but she’s doing something cute like licking her fingers after eating a slice of meat or something. Normally I’d not mind this so much, but remembering how typical the protag was, it definitely gave off the manic pixie dream girl vibes. Art and animation I saw was great though! Unfortunately.

Osomatsu-san

5/10

Skits really fell flat this season. I knew that S2 would lose some drive after the stunt they pulled for the finale of S1, but a lot of skits were utter nonsense. I enjoyed the ones where they experimented with the complexities of each character’s personalities (i.e. Choromatsu and Ichimatsu’s awkward interactions), but it was like wading through a swamp to get a chuckle. I watched most of the season then dropped it, since it wasn’t really worth spending time not having fun.

Mediocre Anime

I don’t know why I watched these but I did.

Garo Vanishing Line

3/10

The story was killing me so much in the end that I would multitask when watching it, and I’m not a natural multitasker. It was just bad writing. Nothing really made sense, and it was quite predictable. Like Sword’s sister came out of nowhere (after she died for Sword’s sad backstory) and was suddenly had HACKER SKILLZ. And I was almost positive that in S1, Sophie’s brother was taken away from her by force, not him wanting to join the El Dorado project. Whatever, does it even matter? The best thing of the season was probably Luke getting a haircut and ditching that awful trenchcoat. Do not recommend.

Touken Ranbu Hanamaru

6/10

Guilty pleasure of the season. Still managed to enjoy the nonsense, with the musicals, and these bishounen and moeblobs being one-dimensional. I did appreciate some of the character interactions and the references to Katsugeki Touken Ranbu, but with these kinds of animes, I really can’t say it’s quality. It’s meant to be aimed at a certain audience, and knowing that I am part of this audience makes it enjoyable to watch. Wouldn’t recommend unless you really like bishounenified swords.

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles

6/10

I previously wrote that I was interested in seeing the stalker girl’s infatuation with Koizumi-san turn into a relationship. Of course it didn’t happen. Yuri? In your dreams. I do applaud this anime for going in depth into the ramen culture and making me hungry every week. There were some hardcore facts about ramen’s origins and experimental ramen. You could tell that they did a lot of research (or were sponsored well). I ate an average of 1.5 packs of instant ramen each week, partly thanks to Koizumi-san. How can I not eat noodles after watching it? Not really any substance to this anime unless you like hearing about ramen facts and watching anime girls foodgasm.

Average Anime

These I could recommend with disclaimers and not feel bad about it.

Junji Ito Collection

6/10

Like with most animes with short stories, there’s a handful of good and bad stories. Since the source material is pretty good, there’s more interesting stories than not. There are definitely some that are ridiculously stupid, but if you are in search of horror anime, this is one you should watch. I wouldn’t say it’s equivalent to Yami Shibai, but it’s good. The animation can’t match the signature entrancing horror that Junji Ito creates, but it’s a decent adaptation. One minor quip I have is that they reuse voice actors in each skit. Might be a budget issue, might be something else. It’s not a big deal, but mostly noticeable to me because Hoshiyan’s voice is too recognizable for me. lol. Oh yeah, the short story with the oil was absolutely disgusting. I enjoyed being grossed out.

Gakuen Babysitters

6/10

It’s like a shoujo but with toddlers. Cute interactions, likable characters. Of course, it’s a light-hearted story, so I guess I shouldn’t expect too much out of it. The comedy bits are well-written, and the art style is absolutely adorable. Great casual watch if you want to feel fluffy without the bullshit of shoujo romances.

Laid Back Camp

7/10

As the title suggests, it’s a pretty laid-back anime. I love the different personalities of the female cast. They shone quite well through the segments of texting. The way that they texted felt friendly, and I felt that I was part of this silly chat group. Also enjoyed learning a lot about camping supplies (and the little pinecones that squealed were so cute). Makes me consider wanting to go solo-hiking or camping to be able to enjoy nature. I’m really glad it covered winter camping, because that’s something that most people never consider, so you get to see the different equipment, activities, and benefits. Recommend if you want something chill with a well-written cast, but not a character-driven story line.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

7/10

Surprisingly, I liked it quite a bit. I was actually expecting this one to tank, because it had a predominantly male lineup, was about assassins, and had a crossdresser. Sounded like someone picked things they thought would appeal to the general public and made an anime of it. Thankfully, I was wrong. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is actually based off a light novel series, which really shows through the thought-out plot and layered characters. I wouldn’t say it’s as crazy as Durarara!!, but some of the twists are quite interesting. I also really enjoy the diverse cast and their interactions: Lin Xianming, pseudonym for a Taiwanese assassin who also happens to crossdress; Banba Zenji, a playful, seemingly idiotic detective with a deck of tricks up his sleeves. There’s also a canonically gay character, an ex, a child, a hacker (with an interesting backstory), and more. And these characters make mistakes, get injuries, and have flaws. I’m hoping for a second season, because watching this was quite nice each week.

Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san

7/10

If you wanted fluff with actual romance, here’s the one for the season! There’s also quite a bit of comedy added. I did feel sorry for the protag Nishikata for falling victim to Takagi’s pranks every time, but I always looked forward to what she was going to do, and how it would fluster him. I think the romantic buildup was well-paced throughout the season. Kudos to whoever paced it, because they danced around with my feelings like an expert, giving me enough of a taste to feel the flutters of romance in my stomach, but not enough to make Nishikata and Takagi an item. Some of the skits were directed very well, with surprisingly effective cinematography (see the rain and umbrella skit). The ending was really cute, and I’m pretty encouraged to read the manga to get more content.

Mahou Tsukai no Yome

7/10

Nothing really jumped out at me. I feel like the actions of the characters didn’t follow a logic to it that made me understand the character better. Nothing really sparked an interested in wanting to cheer the characters on. I really felt passive in watching events happen to Chise and Elias, and the ending wasn’t particularly spectacular either. I think it’s a decent one to pass the time, but I could not get invested in the plot or characters.

Koi wa Ameagari no You Ni

8/10

This anime certainly isn’t for everyone’s tastes, but I think I really appreciated the latter half of the series more than the first half. The surface-level summary is about the age-gap romance, but once I was able to hear Kondo’s internal thoughts, especially about being older, the nostalgia of youth, and trying to pick a passion back up, I started enjoying it a lot more. I especially loved the scenes when he would banter with his college friend Chihiro. The only downside of the latter half of the episodes was the awkward tension between Akira and her friend. Her friend would just yell at her, and Akira would take it, and then not really consider it. And somehow it’s resolved. Well, other than that, I did like the characters and ending a lot.

Kokkoku

8/10

I rather enjoyed the setup and the unknown mechanisms of the system. The enemy really had the advantage in intellect and strength, and it was interesting watching how the characters tried to get around that. The last three episodes were a little flat, and the plot armor (kind of) and last bit of exposition was almost unnecessary, but it was there to give us a happy ending, which I did appreciate. Love the grandpa. I’d say this anime did a pretty decent job at the action and strategy, and the ending wasn’t blowing my mind, but I do really commend it on the setup.

Exceptional Anime

Worth your time.

A Place Further Than the Universe

8/10

Drama about girls aiming to go to Antarctica. Strong female cast, with a pretty believable depiction of average high school girls and how they might react and pursue their dreams. The voice acting was pretty spectacular for this show, especially during the second to last episode. ;) I think this anime is very real with what it’s like with concepts we usually don’t think of: having ambitions, lacking ambitions, making friends, losing friends, finding closure. It was rewarding to walk with the girls in every step of their journey. Animation quality was pretty awesome too. I also cried a bit at the end. I didn’t think I would enjoy an anime about high school girls going to Antarctica, but hey, I loved it.

Hakumei to Mikochi

8/10

It’s a slice-of-life about a pair of thumb-sized forest dwellers. Hakumei, the more adventurous of the two, works as a handyman and has a determined attitude. She’s still a very considerate person and is full of compassion and a heart to help others. Mikochi is a bit more reserved and particular. She’s famous for her cooking and has a passion for textiles and clothing. Both characters compliment each other well, and it’s cute seeing them bustle about their daily lives. You also get to see into the lives of other characters they meet, and it feels an established world with all it’s quirks and culture. The general feel of this anime is relaxed and storybook-like, similar to the same kind of vibe I get from Ghibli movies. I honestly thought this was a children’s anime during the first episode. It could be, but I enjoyed it a lot.

[kindathewholepoint]

I need to talk about this for a minute and fair warning this is going to be a little long.

First let me admit something upfront. While I fully acknowledge the shortage of positive female representation in media both on screen and off, it's not something I've ever felt particularly strongly about. Not because I don't think women deserve better stories and better characters and equal opportunities off screen (they totally do), but because if it weren't for people constantly talking about how under represented women are in media, I honestly don't think I would notice. I've always gravitated more towards male driven television and films (and even music) and I don't know if that would be any different even if the quantity or quality of female driven media improves (though I may yet be proven wrong).

But what I do feel strongly about is the role and power of women in fandom. Repeat after me: fangirl is not an insult. Geeks really do seem to have inherited the earth and shed the stigma associated with being a geek that existed when I was a kid. But fangirls in particular are still struggling to overcome the shaming they have been rampantly subjected to since teenage girls were first videoed screaming and crying over the Beatles. Too many men in fandom still view fangirls as "fake fans" and deride or outright dismiss them, and the media loves to remind us how crazy and irrational fangirls are (I challenge you to find an article about BBC Sherlock fandom in main stream media that doesn't reference the term "Cumberbitch"). Even more unfortunate, is the shaming that still comes from other women who don't identify as geeks or fangirls and feel the need to mock and belittle those that do.

But despite the roadblocks, fangirls are continually proving that they are a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully, the overwhelming response to Wonder Woman is the kick in the pants that the entertainment industry needed to sit up and pay attention to women in general and fangirls in particular as a powerful portion of the market starving for content that they have previously been denied.

Which brings me to Wayward Sisters. For those not in the SPN Family, there are two things you need to know. 1) The fandom is predominantly female. And 2) The idea of a spinoff featuring the ladies of Supernatural was born in the fandom after the failure-to-launch of the previous attempt at an SPN spinoff during S9. The idea was this: instead of a spinoff about all new characters that fans had no investment in, how about one featuring fan favorite Sheriff Jody Mills training the next generation of female monster hunters, especially after Jody was seen taking in wayward teens Alex and Claire and teaming up with fellow sheriff Donna. And thus the idea of Wayward Daughters Academy was born.

But because you should never discount the passion and power of fangirls, the fans didn't just let it rest as a fun idea to kick around on Tumblr. They got the actresses who play Jody and Donna on board and turned it into charity campaign that has raised thousands of dollars. They sold t-shirts. And necklaces. And holiday Christmas ornaments. All for charity. They started demanding the ladies be booked for SPN conventions and then showed up in droves when they appeared. They gave the fiery, take-no-bullshit women that are Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster a voice to speak to women and girls who needed to hear that being yourself and loving who you are and what you love, being wayward and not conforming to the exceptions placed on you is not only okay but something to be celebrated.

The fangirls made themselves heard through every means available to them, demanded what they wanted... and THEY GOT IT. Let me repeat that for those in the back. A predominately female fandom demanded a spinoff of their male dominated television show staring their favorite female side characters and a major television studio listened and GAVE IT TO THEM. And after fighting for so long and so hard for this, you better believe that those same fangirls are going to move mountains to make sure this pilot is successful enough to make the spinoff a reality.

So I just want to say... this is the power of women in fandom. This is what we can do. I am so proud of all the ladies (and a few men) who fought so hard to make this happen and proud to be part of a community that is so empowering to the fans who comprise it.

Ladies, ya'll are gonna kick it in the ass!

[nelleconley1-blog]

Gender and Sexuality Portfolio Post Four: Connection to Popular Culture

Nelle Conley

Gender and Sexuality 303

2/2/18

Gender and Sexuality Portfolio Post Four: Connection to Pop Culture

When searching for artifacts to focus on, I simply did a Google search of “eating disorders in movies and tv shows”. What was interesting to me was that the first thing to pop up said, “movies about girls with anorexia”. The problem with this is that it already established the idea that the only eating disorder is anorexia, and the only people that suffer from it is women. This belief is dangerous because it pushes any other experience or alternative straight off the table. The goal of this assignment is to fight against the societal belief that eating disorders are only ever anorexia and only ever happen to white females. I ultimately decided to focus on a movie called To The Bone to do my research on. I first heard about To The Bone through commercials that discussed its airing over the summer, and was automatically intrigued. I believed that this would be an excellent way to bring awareness to this disease, and was excited to know that the main actress would play the role well, considering she battled an eating disorder of her own in her youth. I had such high hopes for this movie, and truly believed that it would raise awareness about the ugly realities of life with an eating disorder; I was unfortunately very wrong. To The Bone retells the binary in so many ways, I was unable to watch it all the way through the first time. This movie glorifies and romanticizes life with an eating disorder, while also magnifying the binary’s expectations of what eating disorders are supposed to look like, as well as who is, to the binary’s expectations, supposed to have them.

A major way in which To The Bone retells the binary is the characters that it portrays in the story. The story focuses on one woman, named Ellen, who has anorexia. Drawing from Gender Stories chapter 5, Foss, Domenico, and Foss say, “pop-culture stories of preparation socialize children in anticipation of adulthood in the binary, telling children that they will be expected to look and act in certain ways”. (Foss, Domenico, Foss. 106.) This quotation relates with the movie, To The Bone, because the story emphasizes the idea that people who have eating disorders are supposed to look a certain way. The main character, Ellen, is a white woman of middle/high socioeconomic class. She has anorexia, which is the main eating disorder that is focused on in the movie, which also aligns with the binary because most people assume the only people with eating disorders are white women who have anorexia. This movie retells the binary by preparing its viewers to align with their predisposed assumptions about what eating disorders are and who has them. In the movie, Ellen joins an inpatient program that is run by a male doctor and is supposed to be a really successful recovery program that accepts anyone (that is willing to pay the large sum of course). As I was watching, I immediately noticed the lack of representation in the house when it came to people of color and other ethnicities. Everyone in the house was white, except for one young woman. The only woman of color in the entire movie, also the only patient who did not have anorexia, had a binge eating disorder. This movie romanticizes the views of anorexia, and so there is a big subconscious message being sent out to viewers that the only eating disorder that a person of color could possibly have is one that involves their inability to stop eating. It puts an even more negative twist on an already negative situation and disease. There was also a lack of representation when it came to men. There was only one male in the house, and there was a constant battle throughout the movie as to what his sexuality was, which only reinforced the idea that eating disorders are a feminine disease. The male, Luke, is a dancer and portrays a lot of feminine qualities, which aligns with the binary’s idea of who people with eating disorders are, but not so much with the actual reality of who people with eating disorders really are. This reinforces the belief that men can only have eating disorders if they are involved in anything that is also predominantly female, such as dancing. Because Luke does not fill a role that is overly masculine, his sexuality comes into question at several points in the movie, which brings me to my next topic.

Another way that To The Bone retells the binary, is how it treats gay and lesbian relationships by using reinscription. Throughout the movie, Luke displays a clear interest in Ellen, but regardless of his actual efforts, because of how he holds himself and what he is involved in, his sexuality comes into question. Many of the women (if not all of them in the program at one time or another) discuss how he is probably gay, yet give no logical examples of why this could be a possibility other than the fact that he is involved in ballet and has an eating disorder. Another example of the movie negatively representing gay and lesbians, is when Luke and Ellen have a conversation where Ellen decides to start being called “Eli”. Because this is a more masculine name, Luke immediately asks her if she is a lesbian and puts a negative connotation on it, as if her being a lesbian would be some huge loss. The main example of reinscription however, happens towards Ellen’s mother, who happens to be a lesbian. Gender Stories describes reinscription as, “[telling] a story that challenges binary guidelines, introducing gendered ways of being that violate the expectations of the binary. They encourage audiences to challenge the binarys expectations or to engage in a subversive or oppositional reading to these expectations. As a result, audiences position themselves as smart and enlightened because they recognize the binary’s limitations”. (Foss, Domenico, Foss. 114.) To The Bone gives off the impression that it is supportive of gay and lesbian rights because it features them prominently in the movie, but the way they are treated aligns with the binary’s inability to accept relationships that are not male to female. Ellen’s mother is a lesbian, but is portrayed in a painfully stereotypical way. Her character has a series of mental breakdowns before realizing her true sexuality, and then moves to Arizona with a woman to live on a horse farm. Especially in the beginning of the movie, Ellen’s step mother (who is married to her father), blames Ellen’s mother’s sexuality, and her absence, for Ellen’s eating disorder. The subtle yet negative views that the movie places on gay and lesbians retells the binary. On the outside, it would seem that this movie is a supporter of gay rights, but when taking a closer look within, it is clear that the binary is still extremely present and the movie realigns with it by way of reinscription.

The third way in which To The Bone retells the binary is how it romanticizes eating disorders and offers a very narrow perspective of them. In this situation, the movie retells the binary through prescription. In Gender Stories, prescription is described as, “narratives [that] depict adult masculinity and femininity in ways that conform to the gender binary and often reveal the rewards to be reaped from meeting the binary’s expectations”. (Foss, Domenico, Foss. 109.) The main plot of the movie takes place in an in-patient program. It is emphasized from the very beginning that this program is extremely hard to get into, as well as being very expensive. The fact that Ellen is able to afford such expensive care already aligns with the binary’s perception of eating disorders, because there is an assumption that eating disorders only happen to white women of higher socioeconomic status, because those are the main recovery stories we hear about. The problem with this is that is does not shed any light on the reality that eating disorders can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic status. Ellen is able to put her life on hold and enter in different recovery environments, when in reality very few people have the resources to put their lives on hold and focus on recovery. The majority of people who have eating disorders have to maintain their day-to-day responsibilities, while also dealing with an eating disorder and all the problems that come along with that. Another problem with To The Bone is that is romanticizes the idea of an eating disorder. The movie showed Ellen being able to meet new and interesting friends and a potential love interest because of her eating disorder, as well as opening her eyes to how beautiful life is through the lens of having an eating disorder; this is not the reality. Other than having struggles with her family, the movie does not accurately depict everything a person can lose from dealing with an eating disorder. Overall, this movie aligned with the binary by romanticizing the image of pretty, white women having anorexia, and by not allowing any other experiences or voices to shine through that image.

The movie To The Bone retells the binary through prescription, preparation, and reinscription. It does this by not allowing other alternatives that do not align with the binary to be shown through the movie. It also places a negative connotation on gay and lesbian relationships through reinscription of the binary, and also offers a prescription of the binary by the roles it provides of characters who align with the binary. Critiquing this artifact increased my intellectual sophistication of eating disorders, because it reinforced the idea that, as a society, we have a very specific image of what people with eating disorders are supposed to look like and who they are supposed to be. Even when a movie claims to try and raise awareness about a topic such as this, they end up discrediting themselves when they only allow for options that fit closely with the binary. By not allowing for other experiences and voices to be heard, they only romanticize eating disorders and do not offer an accurate portrayal of what life is really like dealing with these illnesses. When I first heard about this movie, I was so hopeful that it would shed light on the painful realities of what it is like dealing with an eating disorder, but I was only left feeling discouraged and angry at the misrepresentation that it caused due to the very strict lens from which it showed its view.