#a harsh but not unjustified portrayal

[annabolinas]

Vivian Pickles as Mary, Queen of Scots in Elizabeth R (1971)

1st pic (top, left) - Vivian Pickles as Mary in Episode 2, The Marriage Game (written by Rosemary Anne Sisson)

2nd-4th pics - Vivian Pickles as Mary in Episode 4, Horrible Conspiracies (written by Hugh Whitemore)

edited by me

[celestialastronmy]

Is Anders a sympathetic character, even if some disagree with his methods?

I would argue that Anders is a sympathetic character, even if one disagrees with his methods.

On one hand, some may argue that Anders is not a sympathetic character due to his extreme actions and the destruction caused by his actions in the game. They may see his methods as unjustifiable and his radicalization as unforgivable.

On the other hand, there are valid reasons to view Anders as a sympathetic character despite disagreeing with his methods. Firstly, his experiences as a mage living under Templar oppression and witnessing the abuse suffered by his fellow mages could evoke empathy. His desperation to fight for liberation and equality for mages can be seen as a noble cause, making his frustration relatable to those who have felt marginalized or oppressed.

Secondly, Anders' complex persona and development throughout the game can also elicit sympathy. He struggles with the spirit of Justice within him, leading to internal conflict and moral dilemma. This internal turmoil humanizes him and makes him a multi-dimensional character rather than a one-dimensional antagonist.

Furthermore, Anders tragic backstory and personal trauma, including his time in the Circle and the loss of his love, can evoke understanding and compassion. His experiences have shaped him into a character who feels justified in his extreme actions, adding layers to his motivations.

Also, some may argue that Anders' extremism, while controversial, can be seen as a result of a system that pushed him to the brink. The oppressive environment of Thedas, where mages are seen as inherently dangerous and are kept in check through harsh measures, may lead some to understand why Anders feels compelled to resort to drastic measures.

Finally, it's essential to consider the systemic issues within the world of Dragon Age that contribute to Anders' radicalization. The deep-seated conflict between mages and Templars, the Chantry's role in perpetuating oppression, and the lack of peaceful avenues for seeking change all contribute to a nuanced understanding of Anders actions.

To wrap this up, while there are arguments against sympathizing with Anders, there are also compelling reasons to view him as a sympathetic character despite disagreeing with his methods. His experiences, internal struggles, and the systemic issues at play in Thedas all contribute to a complex portrayal of a character whose actions may be questionable but whose motivations and background inspire understanding and empathy. (I'm kind of tired of how the games try to portray these issues)

[cor-ardens-archive]

i think there were some terrible, unjustifiable things that happened during the filming of the last house on the left which reflect the misogyny and lack of care in handling sexual violence which do impact the end result. but i think i understand what the vision was, and why craven wanted a remake of it, and why he felt ambivalent about the film for years. i'm not as harsh on it as some people, but i think it was unethical (not for its portrayal of violence, but for how it was handled by the cast and crew).

it's interesting that craven has explicitly made a connection between the film and the vietnam war, and the feeling that violence and specifically torture had become part of the collective consciousness, not only raising the question of "could this happen to me?" but also "could i do this to someone?". i think of all of craven's films, it's the one most concerned with a person's capacity for sadism, but i don't know how much it succeeds.

i'm really interested in people's opinions on the last house on the left, especially women, and especially women who normally enjoy horror and/or rape & revenge movies. if anyone wants to share their opinion, i'd appreciate that!

[kingbuffy]

Despite the weird detractors (and her saying fuck every other sentence, which is just a nitpick really,) Bella Ramsey is a fantastic Ellie. I have problems with Pedro Pascal's Joel though. His acting isn't the problem, except that babygirl line, it's that his portrayal of Joel is too soft and nice?

Joel in the game is a bad person. That's integral to his character, he's rough, angry, and cold because that is how you survive the post-apocalypse. He's not special in his badness either, but it's important to know because it makes the relationship he has with Ellie that much more unlikely and beautiful. Throughout the game he slowly softens to Ellie, and by the end it's almost like their attitudes towards each other have flipped. Where he's the one reaching out. He's bad, but he's also kind, compassionate, and gentlemanly. Because that's his authentic self showing through after being chipped away by Ellie. I don't feel that progression from the show, and it unfortunately makes me buy their relationship less. And it's because he's not as harsh as game Joel in the beginning. Yes it's a show, so we're not spending the real life hours with Joel and Ellie like we do in the game, but a show can still pull off effective character growth. It certainly does with Ellie.

I don't feel like Joel changes all that much in the show. Not only that, but most importantly, his softness is gonna bite the show in the ass when season 2 rolls around. I won't spoil anything, but Joel crossed a lot of people, and the point is that we love him, he's a complex person, but we never forget that he's just as brutal as the people he fought. Season 2 in going to feel grossly unjustified because they didn’t think we could handle a morally grey Joel.

[kimmysfandomblog]

komahina? (ofc)

Thanks so much!!! (•‾⌣‾•)و ̑̑♡

From here!

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you:

When I started shipping them: It was actually not immediately! I had no opinion on Komaeda as a character until after/during my second playthrough. I actually have a funny story for that… I never considered Koma/Hina as a pairing until I happened across NicoB’s lets plays mentioning it was a popular ship, and then I was like, “Oh, people ship it? I wonder why!” I googled it up and then read a few reasons (i never did Komaeda’s FTEs, and neither did the let’s players I was watching, and I didn’t watch Island Mode or play it either) SO then I got the game for myself, played through Komaeda (and Nanami’s) FTE’s all the way through. The way his FTEs are written honestly make me believe his events are canon, and I just it most in character of Hinata to try to understand Komaeda, even if it’s with apprehension. Fanart and fanfiction and the fact the ship is super popular really helps fuel my feelings for it, on top of how I liked and came to appreciate Komaeda and his complicated relationship with Hinata even more! It’s just a very complicated, very intriguing ship, and I’ll be happy knowing they get to sort out their feelings post-canon!

My thoughts: Oh I spilled it all out in the previous question by accidents lol. Anyways, yeah, I love it! I love it for that complexity and sincere wish to understand each other. That, at least, is mutual. That first chapter established a connection that couldn’t be denied by Ch 5. There’s a certain other ship that never did that so it confuses me a lot about the popularity of it.

What makes me happy about them: They compliment each other really well and can learn from each other too!!! Also, I like that the last scenes we see, Hinata has accepted Komaeda, it would seem?

What makes me sad about them: Well, if Komaeda’s diagnosis remains true, it would be a very stressful, possibly short, relationship ;;

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: :) So many things... Either Komaeda or Hinata acting as jerks for unjustifiable reasons, portrayals of KomaHina as purely abusive from the start, Komaeda even having an obsession over Hinata? The guy wants to avoid relationships. And Hinata is not a jerk. He will never take advantage of Komaeda, e v e r. I mean, even canonically he tries to avoid confronting him in his recapture! It wasn’t his fault Komaeda got captured in the first place. He only ever physically hurt someone when they are the ones who came at him, like Juzo, or I guess the military guys coming at him in Hope Arc. Hinata’s only ever gave “permission” for violence, like, one time, when Komaeda was being particularly harsh on a comment about him, and this was after many jokes and jabs at Hinata. The way people portray the ship sometimes makes me really sad...

Things I look for in fanfic: Basically, I want to see a realistic confrontation of their feelings. I’m all for the fluff, and the need for understanding! I want to see them tackling problems together and coming to get to know each other. I want it to be something that doesn’t portray either one asking for violence unless in an entirely joking way that no one actually goes for violence. I want full consent and insecurities being ebbed away slowly. I just want what Koma/Hina should be.

My wishlist: I want this idea of Koma/Hina being abusive to die, by the ones who hate it and by the ones who love it. I also am not comfortable with these memes about it actually, especially at Komaeda’s expense. I also kind of wish it was less popular so that I wouldn’t come across really gross representations of this ship and these characters. I want to see this ship be portrayed in a way where Hinata accepts Komaeda’s flaws, and they both come to a middle ground.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: It’s a tough call for Hinata, since I ship him with many people. My top picks would be Naegi and Natsumi, though!  As for Komaeda... I only ever ship him with Hinata or Nanami XD I know a lot of people are against Koma/Nami, and I get it honestly, but I think that if we look at their personalities separate from what their canon selves for like, we’d get a super interesting pair.

My happily ever after for them: Komaeda had been misdiagnosed (but he’ll still need medical attention at times, of course), so he lives an average lifespan with Hinata, who counteracts his bad luck (so he doesn’t feel either very strongly like he used to). They still have their disagreements and arguments, but they’ve learned to not run away (or encourage Hinata to run away, in Komaeda’s case) from it any more. They make a good strategic team in how to deal with the other Remnants of Despair or to deal with other difficult situations involving lower ranking future foundations members or citizens that recognize that them as former Remnants of Despair

[cityscapesandnightskies]

Nude versus Naked, an essay by Faye De Leon

Labor Day by Carlo Saavedra

Nanay

by Mark Justiniani

Women’s bodies have long been a subject for any aspect of the society like economics, education, and art. Prostitution, the commodification of one’s body, as they say, is the oldest profession in the world. Though this is yet to be proven, any artwork ranging from the middle ages to the modern times can vouch for the truth that has always been present in our realities. The way society perceives women has always been subjected to some form of inferiority as if having a vagina is a disability and hindrance to fulfilling duties outside of the socially constructed femininity spectrum. As John Berger, a world-renowned art critic has put it, “A man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies,” and this power is precisely dependent upon women’s inferior status. We blame the patriarchy- the society, for what women have become, for the existence of a ladder that needs to be climbed, which needs to be destroyed ultimately. But did we forget that we are exactly part of the same society whose standards and constructs we condemn? 

In 1972, in an excerpt from his book Ways of Seeing, John Berger explained how women are born into an immediate confined setting, that she as a woman must always watch herself or survey herself and form her own being into the pre-made model of how a “proper” woman must behave. This created the notions of the surveyor and the surveyed (Berger, 1972). And women are believed to be both the surveyed and the surveyor of themselves. Surveyed in a way that everybody expects a woman to behave in accordance to the social constructs, and surveyor in a way that she continually sees herself as the surveyed, therefore joining the band of the surveyors in surveying herself in accordance to what the other surveyors’ standards are. And these surveys will eventually determine how a woman should be treated in the society. Berger simplified this idea by saying that “men act and women appear” (Berger, 1972). As the woman appears to people, she becomes an object for the eye and she is not seen for herself but for what the society indicates her to be; she becomes a view, a sight to see. In other words, the problematic male gaze is also embodied by the women through micro-aggression, without women knowing it. Though John Berger’s book was published 46 years ago, the truth remains ugly until now. Women are looked at and men are looked upon. Nakedness, the state of having no clothes and being oneself, is automatically stripped away from a woman once she is born. Women are always seen in the state of nudity in which they’re naked for the purpose of being looked at, and it eventually becomes their costume for the society to see (Cultural Reader, 2011). However, Labor Day by Carlo Saavedra tackled a much harsher approach on women’s nudity, in contrast with Nanay by Mark Justiniani which was more peaceful and exhibited somewhat a melancholic vibe. These two paintings, displayed in Pinto Art Museum, Antipolo city, successfully portrayed the difference between nude versus naked.              Carlo Saavedra’s Labor Day is a unique take on the concept of nudity of women. The way Labor Day exhibited nudity was based on the harsh truth of the society. The harsh color combination of red, black, and white made the audience feel as if the painting is hard to look at. The utilizing of red as the background made it clear that this painting has a sad and painful story to tell, that it can be as dark as the color black, even if the main protagonist of the story is as genuine as the color white. As seen on the left, there is a woman visibly naked and posed in a provoking way. If we look closely on the right, we are met with the shadow figure of the same woman on the left side, only it is clothed. This is exactly what it means to be nude- to be seen as naked by others but still not recognized to be one’s self (Berger, 1972). To us audience, we can only see her nude and the real idea behind who she is appears to be cloaked and overshadowed. The way in which her legs were spread wide open seemed as if it was an invitation for people to look at and possibly touch freely, seeing as the woman was painted with no arms. This leads us to the implication that the woman in the painting is now seen as a spectacle. To be a spectacle is to be regarded as an object of curiosity or contempt, a dramatic public display (Merriam Webster, n.d.). And since she is now a spectacle, whatever people may do to her once she is positioned as she is, she cannot do anything about it because she is just a mere public display. Even if she was able to move and such, she will still be regarded as a dramatic public display. Whatever she does now is always tied back to her being seen as an object, being objectified by the audience. We can also see that there is blood dripping from her vagina, which can only indicate that even if she is posed as if she was inviting an audience, letting herself become a spectacle, it still hurts her womanhood. She is aware of what is happening to her because of the pain that she is experiencing that was materialized through the dripping of her blood. Which brings us to the reason why this artwork is entitled as Labor Day. From the analysis of the physical aspects of the painting, we realize that the woman in the painting is self-aware that she has become spectacle, and she lets herself become a spectacle. We then are faced with the question: why did she let herself become a spectacle? Labor Day is a portrayal of a woman who recognized how society perceives her kind as a spectacle. And in this age, becoming a spectacle is not just a mere public dramatic display, it also becomes an act of commodification. Displaying your body, whether or not it is considered prostitution, can get you money. Aside from prostitution, this is also evident through the existence of social media influencers and how advertising agencies take advantage of the influencers’ large amount of followers to advertise their products and services. Carlo Saaverda’s Labor Day recognized this mechanism present in the status quo and portrayed the harsh reality of how modern women, even if they are owning their bodies for empowerment and body positivity, can still be seen as an object to use for monetization and commodification. Labor Day is a nude painting showered with the ugly truths of our society. On the other side of the spectrum, we have Mark Justiniani’s Nanay painted in 1999. We are taken from the harsh reality to a peaceful realization of what it means to be a mother. Nanay portrays a naked woman lying beside a pond, and in her arms is what seems to be a grown man in the same position as hers, and a baby’s reflection on the pond. Justiniani’s use of deep and dull colors exhibited a melancholic and nostalgic vibe which is perfect for the message of the painting. The naked woman lying in a fetal position and embracing a limp image of a grown man is a metaphor for how after all that we have been through, at the end of the day, we are still subjected to go home into the clasps of maternal love. Which is also the reason why the reflection of the old man on the pond is that of a child; maternal love will always have us feeling as if we are newly born again because a mother’s love never changes. The way Nanay portrays nakedness is that of a peaceful one. To be naked is to be oneself (Berger, 1972). The woman is a mother and we see her exhibiting motherhood through caring and embracing her grown child. She is naked because she is stripped off of the societal perception of what a mother should be. Often, people think of being a mother as work, a responsibility, and mothers should continually work to reach the standards of being the “perfect” mother. But in this painting, she is unclothed as if she no longer wears the burden and pressure that society puts on her shoulders, as if she is free from all the surveyors, surveying her. In a way, her fetal position tells us that she is finally done from always checking herself in the mirror, keeping tabs of how well or how poorly she performed as a mother, as a person. And now, she has decided to return to the pure and genuine form of being a mother. We see her not for the kind of parent that she is to her child, not if she was married or part of the large percentage of teenage pregnancy- we don’t see if she strived hard to provide for her children, we don’t see if she is a protective parent and the likes, instead we are met with the simplest realization of what being a mother is: unconditional love. The very reason why motherhood is often thought of as work that fleshes out the life of every mother is because of the societal standards that women have to achieve. These standards are rooted in how a mother concretizes and materializes her love for her child. There are various ways of expressing love to children, but for some undeniably absurd reason, society decided to put standards as to how a mother should be. People took the idea of a mother’s unconditional love and twisted it into a form of economic and financial capability. While this is understandable for the reason that a child has needs to be met, it is unjustifiably unfair to categorize women, specifically mothers, in accordance with their capability to provide material things to her child. We must realize that providing material things only goes a short way and is only on the surface of being a parent. A child will always grow out of the clothes you clothed him with, there will come a time when he will put all his toys away, one day he will realize that he wants to explore the world and discover more of himself, and the only thing that a parent- a mother, can do is to provide her child with the abstract means of surviving, which are principles and beliefs- a moral compass, in order for her child to grow up as a decent human being. And this moral compass cannot be measured through financial and material means, rather it comes from a deeper manifestation of a mother’s unconditional love. This is exactly what the painting portrays: an image of a grown man and a naked mother, lying still among the garden of life in an embrace, immersing themselves in the pureness of a mother’s unconditional and unchanging love; A naked portrayal of the beauty and genuinity of a mother and child relationship. The difference between nude and naked is rooted in the establishment of society’s standard values which stemmed from the solidarity or alliance that was formed by different groups of men. And among these groups, the most powerful and influential will eventually establish or be the standard themselves of the society’s values, to which the less powerful and subordinates are inclined to follow. According to Hegel’s book entitled Elements of a Philosophy of a Right, there is a power struggle between these groups. While the notion of the established principles and values are good because it provides a form of unity, it still fuels conflict and alienation to those who try go against the current. Meaning that the surveyors of the society are either part of the powerful elites or are coerced to follow the standards posed by these elites. The concept of nudity is a precise embodiment of a woman who is coerced into following the standards of her surveyors, just as what Carlo Saavedra’s Labor Day showed, in order for her to survive and not feel alienated, to which she paid the price of being objectified, becoming a spectacle, and losing herself amidst the surveyors watchful eyes. On the other hand, Nanay portrayed the peace, purity, and genuinity that comes from being free from all the social constructs created by the powerful elites. Though watchful eyes remain, the mother and child have successfully broken the chains that bound them from the superficial understanding of what it means to be mother- stripped naked of all of the heavy burden of being coerced into following the restricting standards of society.              John Berger’s excerpt from Ways of Seeing, Nude versus Naked, has successfully provided us with the self-awareness that people need to critique not just art, but society itself. However primitive the book is, the truth behind the mechanisms on how our society functions everyday remains to be evident and real, only now, it has evolved into the technological aspect of social media and deeper metaphorical meaning. The concept of nudity and nakedness is not always restricted to the image of a woman but is also applicable to all kinds of gender present in our status quo. That is why, as much as the problem of objectification was rooted from the power and influence of the dominating group of patriarchy back in the medieval times, we cannot solely condemn them because of the reason that society is now heavily diverse and culturally interwoven. Now, nudity may not be as simple as being objectified, it can now also be a form of commodification. Naked may not be just a state of having no clothes, it can now also be a state of reverting back to who one truly is. Life is now more complex, and it requires an even keener and watchful eye for us to realize and see the core truth that is layered behind more interwoven truths. 

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: Dagashi Kashi

How did this get a dub?

Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful it got a dub, of course, since I enjoyed Degashi Kashi, but… how did an anime about Japanese Penny Candies/Snacks earn itself a dub? It’s so niche, so obscure, and so unlikely that American audiences would experience any of these foods for themselves,[1] that I wouldn’t even dream of it receiving a a Sub-only Release, let alone a dub. Heck, my even knowing about it was a combination of vaguely recalling some random bit from LoadingReadyRun discussing its upcoming release, and accidentally finding it through Funimation.

And it’s second season is also getting a Simuldub, which makes this series even more inexplicable, as it doesn’t strike me as a show that would inspire a revival.

Why does Dagashi Kashi have a dub? How does any of this happen?

I love anime.

(Spoilers below the page break)

Degashi Kashi is a slice of life comedy about a young boy who kind of wants to be a Mangaka, but whose dad wants him take over the family business: a Japanese Candy Store.[2] The young boy would rather not. Then a quirky, Degashi-obsessed girl arrives looking to recruit the father for her family’s snack company, but the father will not take the job unless his son will take over the family store.

Hilarity ensues. Also lot of trivia and history lessons about the Dagashi and its surrounding culture.

It’s a charmingly odd show that makes the most out of having only five cast members. There’s Kokonotsu (the noted son) his father Yo, Hotaru (the girl seeking to get Kokonotsu to take over the store) Saya (Cafe operator crushing on Kokonotsu) and Tou (Saya’s brother who looks like Dave Strider).

There’s pretty much no major plot to speak of, with only enough premise to carry the episodes between various Dagashi lessons.

Also some pretty tame fan service. And odd character designs.

The eyes are weird. Kokonotsu’s are mostly fine, as far as generic protagonist designs go, and Yo and Tou don’t have their eyes visible often enough for comment, but the girls have pretty out-there eyes.

Hotaru’s eyes are concentric circles, making her look a little crazed and possibly unearthly. Her design over all is pretty eccentric, as she’s dressed in a simplified gothic lolita style and is the only one without natural hair and eye color, but that I’m broadly used to, because… anime. She sticks out like a sore thumb, but that fits her role so I’m okay with her design.

Also, her dub voice is… unconventional. There’s a usual timbre and speaking pattern that I’ve grown to expect from female characters. Usually sweet and light, but able to range into comedic anger. A little wiggle room for personalization, but mostly samey.[3] Hotaru can have that quality, yes, but when she really gets going, it’s usually a little lower pitched, and there’s this vocal quirk that’s… very difficult to put into words, where she’s not actually putting on a mocking tone, but is next door to it in pattern.

Please try and find examples of this dub voice. I was surprised at first, but I quickly grew to like Tabitha Ray’s performance for sounding very distinct.[4]

Returning to eye criticisms, Saya looks constantly crazed.

Her irises remain constantly tiny. The thing about giant anime eyes is it allows space for fine tuning emotions. Normally, the pupils/irises take up about 40-60% of the total space, allowing space to make them grow to show interest or more emotion, or (as is more to the point) shrink to show shock or extreme anger or just a loss in mental stability.

There’s an expressive language one learns as they watch anime, and Saya is locked in the tiny iris end, so she looks like she’s supposed to be crazy, possibly planning on burning you alive with a scalding pot of coffee at any moment.  But that isn’t her personality at all. Sure, her introductory scene was pretty textbook Tsundere, but she quickly eased into the Childhood Friend archetype, and either way, her shrunken eyes are unjustified. I got mostly used to the eyes, but it’s still poor design, since (ideally) character design should tell you something about the character, or at least be deliberately misleading.

Which leaves one last topic to discuss: Fanservice!

The portrayal of sexual elements is important for creators to consider. Good Art should hold a mirror to the human experience, and how an artist approaches the subject can say a lot.

Still, cultural norms and the ebb and flow of societal expectations, as well as the desire to draw in the target audience, makes the execution of fanservice fascinating to me. Where are the lines, on both a community level and personal level? Does the medium itself have an influence? Because a single misstep in fanservice can bring forth harsh criticism.

And, let me remind you that Avatar: the Last Airbender, one of the best animated series to broadcast on an American children’s television station, dedicated an episode to showing cute girls (and Zuko) at the beach in bathing suits. The oldest of whom was 16.[5]

So, Dagashi Kashi, to its credit, doesn’t feel fanservice-driven. Sure, some situations might be a little contrived (mostly surrounding Hotaru), but like the comedy of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, the show at least shows the steps that bring forth fanservice. And, to be honest, it’s pretty tame after the first episode. Mostly rain or sweat making Hotaru’s white shirt a little sheer to show off a little frill of her bra. Then the camera takes the perspective of Kokonotsu, who takes a very quick glimpse before averting his gaze.

Now, before I go further with my analysis, let me be clear: if the show cut all the fanservice scenes and took the maybe five total minutes they took (in twelve episodes) and expanded the Dagashi lessons, there would be no real loss. It’s superfluous material. But the fanservice shots also aren’t distracting nor derail the plot. They’re also mostly tasteful, and work is put in so the fanservice does work in context.

The element to execution that I think is most important is that it’s viewed through the the lense of youths, particularly Kokonotsu. No one’s ages are explicitly stated (not that I noticed, anyways), but there’s enough mention of homework that points to at least Kokonotsu, Saya, and Tou being school aged, most probably High Schoolers.[6] Hence, some awkwardness on the subject of romance and sex. So, yes, there will be some curious glances when the opportunity is presented.

Second, beside one scene concerning Saya, no one’s particularly victimized. The concept of fair consent is… curious when applied to fictional characters and the audience. It’s a debate that’s plagued superheroes for literal generations, and I’m not so foolish as to take a firm stance at this point.

So, setting aside arguments that fictional characters are inherently in a relationship of power imbalance with their writers,[7] in what cunning ways do you write a character (male or female) as being okay with a level of objectification?

You could have a character say they lack a nudity taboo, but that breaks the ‘Show, don’t Tell’ rule, and doesn’t clear accidental slips.

Dagashi Kashi manages to establish Hotaru’s lack of care in a such a blaze of insane glory that you don’t actually realize what the writers pulled until you’re writing a review spending an awkward amount of time discussing the show’s fanservice.

In the first episode, Saya meets Hotaru when the former sees the latter laying in the rice paddy she crashed into, coating her in mud. Being neighborly, Saya lets Hotaru use her shower. After which, Hotaru shows a casual disregard at being fully naked in front of both Saya and Tou. This is the most explicit scene in the series (in a PG-13 way) and is such obvious pandering, that you don’t even notice the show has taught you that Hotaru carries no reservations, so when the show very briefly shows off her body through the rest of the show, the audience knows Hotaru isn’t a victim.[8]

It’s a blatant, pandering scene that still serves a mechanical purpose. So that’s worth studying.

The only time either girl is victimized, it’s a transgression by Tou against Saya, when he uses a sticky hand to flip up her skirt. Credit to the direction, the camera stays firmly in front of her, where her skirt remained in place, and the audience sees nothing. Tou is also violently punished.[9] So the show went out of its way to show there’s a line: “accidental” fanservice from the indifferent Hotaru is kosher, intentional malice towards the unwilling Saya will not be justified by the camera.

I mean, obviously I’m not telling my fellow writers to showcase what they don’t think is okay to show, but I will say this: establish what you’re comfortable portraying and what you’re not, and try your best to inform the audience what the extreme is so they can decide if they’re on board.

Say whatever cynical thought you carry, I appreciate that many animes tend to front load the most egregious fanservice in the first episode, so after one episode you know what to expect.

Dagashi Kashi is a fun show, very educational about niche Japanese culture, and rife with things to overthink. Or not. The Japanese Snack trivia is a delight if you just want to watch at a surface level.

If you enjoyed this… frankly rambling navel-gazing review, consider supporting me on my patreon, checking out my webcomic or other works, or even just sending me questions or comments. Any support is nice. Helps me feel firm in following managka dreams instead of taking over the family candy store.

Except my family doesn’t have a candy store…

Man, why doesn’t my family own a rural candy store? That’d be cool.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Internet markets and subscription boxes aside. [2] Specifically a Degashi store, which seems to be a genre of Japanese snack foods. I cannot give further context, I’m afraid. [3] If I may have one quick dig at Japanese voice acting, girls always seem to have obnoxiously high pitched voices. [4] I should see if she’s done anything else. [5] A fact I present not as condemnation, but to provide an interesting perspective. I never see any debate over “The Beach”, which I think is also interesting. [6] I assume. Then again, Usagi of Sailor Moon is in middle school, so you can’t always trust your eyes. [7] Because it’s not a real person, and trying to apply such parameters to creator and creation is ridiculous. [8] And they don’t break the suspension of disbelief like Funimation did with Luccoa. [9] Now, the fact that this is a brother harassing his sister is a kettle of fish I will not dive into.