#absolutely nothing against you op! just wanted to clarify because i think its weird to fake a guys tweet even if its an innocuous one

[knuckleblaster]

why post a fake Hakita tweet when his actual comment on the Unity debacle was funnier

never change, Hakita. never change.

[cviperfan]

Okay so partially motivated by how many references there were in SPoP and largely bc it's been in my backlog for years and I remembered the whole thing got uploaded to youtube a while ago, I finally got around to watching Revolutionary Girl Utena for the first time so time for some hot takes

2 clarify I did see the movie about around 2000 which was my introduction to the series, and I did see like 1 episode back in anime club (over a decade ago now tbh) but for the most part I went into this with only a vague sense of the ending and offhand knowledge of a few of the weird comedy episodes so this was mostly a blind watch

Before getting into #spoilers I will say that this ended up being an easy Top 5 and that it's definitely still worth watching (fair warning for the very frequent rape and incest (and sometimes both)), especially if you've somehow also avoided most of the context of this show like me, and it really is one of the rare Nothing Else Like It kind of show (though it has roots in older shoujo like Rose of Versailles and modern stuff like Revue Starlight have picked up its lede)

Okay spoilers from here on

I really only kinda have vague memories of the more knightly take on Utena from the movie so Series!Utena having this powerful Dumb Jock Energy threw me

Like she's out here invoking the Air Bud Rule from minute one

This bit where Akio is going on about some Important Life Lesson thing and she's just fuckin

crab walking im

what a hero i love her

I have always kinda been more partial to shoujo than shounen bc the sense of like emotional urgency and the heightened exaggerated feelings are just more compelling to me narratively and what Utena does spectacularly is really drive that to fucking 11 and it permeates every aspect of the show

Like the melodrama of it all is so shameless and it's so committed to letting its visuals and music drive the mood and emotional intensity of its stakes that they kind of speak for themselves and demand to be taken on their own terms rather than having clear or rigid interpretations

Like it's kind of a situation of "yes most of what you're seeing ties into the show's bigger themes and characterization but also you can just vibe to the spectacle as well" like even when it's not on the Dueling Arena there's a theatricality underlying everything that pairs perfectly with the spirit of shoujo even as it... not necessarily contradicts it, but challenges it in some ways and also wants to coexist with it?

And I think that's the interesting thing how it wants to tackle some of these arch concepts tied into the genre while also being deeply intertwined with it.  Like it really is a Product Of Its Time in so many ways but it also feels somehow timeless and transgressive in others even now?

Like part of me would be interested to see a remake that took into account 23 years of conversation about how much perceptions of gender and sexuality have changed but at the same time would it lose some essential part of itself in that transition?  idk potentially

Also lbr a hypothetical remake wouldn't even attempt to revise anything it would just redo it thus making it pointless

So I know this has been a thing that's been brought up before but seeing it play out dang RGU and NGE really are just companion pieces to each other huh

Subverting the themes and narrative arcs of their respective genres, mysterious quiet girl who's directly the key to everything, the ritual of action setpieces rendered as Actual Ritual in the story, banger OP, comphet ruining everyone's lives

Also they really don't have much in common comparatively but I'm definitely seeing pieces of Utena in Kill la Kill too?  Particularly how Mako's arc feels like a fleshing out and expansion from the archetype divergence Wakaba got in that one ep (I can't believe klk was the utena/wakaba au fanfic)

Speaking of which damn he is a sleazy bastard and a gross predator but ngl Akio can Get It he and Ragyo are basically the same character and I guess this is just my type apparently???? oops

Like I'm recognizing how like really awful he is but also you really can't blame Utena for crushing on him he is super hot and charming

aside i lost it at the audacity of "well even tho i am a man like twice your age (AT LEAST) and took advantage of the situation and also i am clearly not the type to take no for an answer since you didn't reject me you're basically just as bad as me" bruh

The Black Rose Arc is... interesting bc like it borders on superfluous with how it resolves and yet the introduction of a "monster of the week" type power rangers element specifically built to expand on the secondary cast is a pretty inspired choice

again my primary point of introduction to the series was the movie which is basically a remix of the Student Council arc so when I got to 12 I was like wth are they gonna fill the rest of this with? WELP

What I really like about it is that usually this kind of setup-- the 'character is faced with their dark inner thoughts they shy away from and they become a short-term enemy' deal-- ends with the char in question coming to terms with this and overcoming it to become a better person

but here it's just like... they lose and then they just gotta... sit with that, forever.  Like it doesn't really change the status quo of their relationships w/ utena or the others but it does just stick around for them and now the audience knows that about them too.  like sometimes you just can't take that shit back.

Utena's relationship to queerness, having heard about it tangentially for years but seeing it play out now is also interesting bc while in the grand scheme it doesn't feel necessarily any more ahead of its time than something like Cardcaptor Sakura there is a casualness to it that's distinct

Like for the most part it's either kind of the tangential fluff that even then was part of shoujo as a standard but then there's also stuff like the Akio/Touga or Touga/Saionji hinting or Kozue's casual pass at Anthy in addition to the maintext Juri/Shiori push-pull and ofc the subtext-but-maintext Utena/Anthy threads

I wanna take a moment to talk about Juri bc of how kind of in the spirit of the show itself it plays things both with and against the grain with her

Like she's a Tragic Lesbian which is nothing new but usually this character type (and Distinctively Lesbian characters in general) in anime/manga tend to be portrayed as being very predatory, invasive and either played for laughs or to repulse the audience, so the degree of empathy RGU shows her in 97 is rare to see even now.  

Like there is a "safeness" to her bc of how unattainable Shiori is (though their arc ends in a decidedly ambiguious way), but it doesn't really feel like she's getting the short end of the stick over the more straight-leaning characters bc arguably all of the relationships here are defined by an aspect of chasing the unattainable, echoing Utena's own quixotic search for her Prince, and her choosing to remain closeted feels realistic *especially because* of the surrounding context of how heteronormative the world she exists in is.  Like the character is aware of that and is navigating it in a way that feels honest

Speaking of which it's interesting how the reveal of Juri's pining for Shiori in Ep 7 echoes the bigger reveal of Utena/Anthy bc of how it plays up this heterocentric love triangle or at least it seems to be but then the cards are on the table and no that's really not what it is at all, and it feels significant that after spending most of the series naively oblivious to Juri’s feelings and what she wants out of a relationship with Shiori that Utena finally Gets It in Ep 37

Is it a coincidence Juri actually gets to be the one to point it out? No

Speaking of triangles big ups to the Ruka/Juri/Shiori one honestly bc of how hard it commits to the unknown third result of a LT where absolutely no one comes out happy and it actually works even with the handicap of Ruka basically coming out of nowhere just for these two episodes

Like all three of them want the one person who's absolutely never gonna love them back and that's just rough buddy and isn't that kinda the show in a nutshell

So the thing that struck me about Utena/Anthy and how it plays out is how subtle it really is.  And that does make sense bc while f/f teasing/subtext again was part of shoujo before it's quite a different thing for the heroine to ultimately reject her 2 male love interests and choose a life with her female best friend, esp in nineteen ninety seven

Like I think you can argue that Ep 12 feels like The Moment where What Their Relationship Is, Definitely shifts and that possibility is suddenly there, and then it doesn't come back in a big way until the ending but there are tiny glimpses throughout where you can see that working in the background if you’re really paying attention

Small things like Anthy's flashes of unspoken jealousy, Utena fretting over her even when she's in bed with Akio, and part of that is coming from going in with a knowledge of what the endgame is and keeping an eye out for it.  I can hardly imagine being a viewer during the og broadcast and then ep 34 comes and suddenly the intent is made clear and our understanding of the inciting incident gets all flipped turned upside down

And to a modern viewer I can get coming into this for the first time and being frustrated at just how close to the chest it gets played, but that's also kind of the only way it gets to happen at that point in time?  But I think it ultimately is effective and vital to their individual arcs and dovetails nicely with the themes of the show

Like I remember hearing that original manga creator Chiho Saito was pretty against their paired ending, but with a lot of convincing from Ikuhara ultimately came around to it, and it's hard to imagine the anime's ending working any other way and being nearly as impactful

And there is something really beautiful about the bucking against the established idea of yuri relationships being a childish concept that gets left behind in order to 'grow up' actually becoming the impetus of their own journeys into adulthood and eventually back to each other, and it’s hard not to feel a little disappointed that for this Bold Step and declaration for the future that RGU takes that while yuri is more common than ever it largely continues to exist within the realm of schoolgirls and something to be left behind in adolescence like for RGU’s faults and shortcomings it saw this world of possibility in moving forward, while the genre largely elected to stand still

And it really speaks to either the timelessness of the show or how much the queer experience has remained constant that even with a tragic ending, that hope, or rather the promise of their reunion, feels bold and defiant and genuinely uplifting even now

Like the moment where just before they reach out to each other one final time, and their voices as children speak out to each other, as if finally fulfilling a promise they barely remember, I really did just start ugly crying

Lastly some assorted closing thoughts--

-Touga?  Punk.  Guy really takes advantage of Utena's whole prince thing to manipulate her, ends up losing to her in the rematch and then fucks off to mope for like AN ENTIRE SEASON then pops back up "oh yea im in love with her literally nothing else about my behavior has changed tho" like lmao you tried i guess

-Also i know Touga's design is p stock standard bishounen ojou-sama type but god this is all i can think about when I see him

- Green Touga Saionji is a bitch-ass motherfucker but like he at least tried more than anyone else so uh that's something I guess?????

Like the guy clearly has some unresolved feelings about Touga so i'm inclined to be sympathetic bc wow poor choice my dude but also... bitch-ass motherfucker

-Nanami really went through this thing for me where it's like... she's a brat and a shitty person but it's also hard to really dislike her bc she does get what she deserves most of the time and also she gets kinkshamed more than most of the cast despite none of them really having a high ground over her lol

-Miki did nothing wrong (aside from like the implied incest but that's also like... half the relationships in this show uh)

sidenote I can completely see the notable excess of Incest Subtext/Maintext being intended as like... A Thing to comment on how common it is within shoujo and also tying in to like the bigger themes of Growing Up bc the idea that you’re chasing after your own damn siblings betrays some freudian inability to mature or whatever but tbqh it doesn’t always feel like the show knows the line between commenting on this and indulging in it and RGU is very indulgent by its own nature so I really can’t blame people put off by the show as a whole bc this is an area where RGU is largely indistinguishable from its genre peers

-Juri really did nothing wrong tho also props for having the best duels

-FUCK SHIORI THO for eel 

so obviously i have not seen the show up to now but I've been in yuri circles for a long time so I knew about Juri/Shiori and my perception of it had always been "oh it's one of those kinda messy with complicated feelings" kinda ships where the drama is a big part of the appeal and that's true but like

the actual nature of it I did not realize up to now and OH SHIORI'S REALLY THAT BITCH HUH

So not only does she date that one anonymous guy specifically to spite Juri unaware she doesn't actually like him BUT THEN WHEN THEY GET REUNITED SHE'S JUST LIKE LOL IT DIDNT MATTER BUT HEY WE COOL RIGHT *AND THEN* when she finds out about Juri's feelings she's like HELL YEA I CAN HANG THIS OVER HER HEAD FOREVER FUCK HER

***AND THEN*** when she gets some karma after Ruka dumps her ass she airs her dirty laundry out in front of EVERYBODY like Juri hasn't been dealing with this shit like an absolute champ the whole time like?????

Like ok i get that there's the sad longing drama there and usually that's my jam and the show itself seems to end on kind of an ambiguous note and the follow-up manga from this year seems to leave it as kind of a "maybe" but I'm sorry get Juri a better GF 2020 she deserves better

I saw some Juri/Wakaba going through the tumblr tag for the show and honestly that's some big brain shit I'm here for it

Also now knowing exactly how this dynamic operates it really makes that Jasper/Lapis reference pic one of the SU crew drew of them read very.... interestingly???????? (tho Lapis' design reads a lot closer to Kozue and that's probably a closer personality analogue too)

-I love that thing in ep 37 where the whole SC is just very casually like hey utena if the whole revolutionizing the world thing with anthy doesn't work out uhhh call me im free haha just kidding unless...? lmao

-I'm pretty uninclined to try to pin precise sexuality HCs to characters for series this old where the ambiguity is part of how its danced around like partly coming from my own experience I'm inclined to read Utena as bi but that really is just coming from me?

But on the other hand literally every time a guy is like "i love you utena come be happy with me and we can love each other forever" she's like "k" after having left them on read for a day and disconnects from them entirely so lesbian going through comphet is a pretty valid read i think lol

-Lastly I think it’s pretty interesting but validly frustrating how fast and loose the show’s relationship with dream logic and non-traditional storytelling really is like when the shadow girls show up I was like “oh this is a greek chorus thing and it’s meant to reflect on the themes of the episode” (or uh in the case of exactly Ep 29 to break from tradition and explicitly tell us what a characters deal is lmao) but then no actually turns out they’re actually real characters who exist within the show too fuck you

ANYWAY I really did love this show and felt like I got a lot out of it despite it being pretty infamously hard to decipher but the ways it's inscrutable appeal to me specifically so very happy with this I'm gonna be thinking about it for a while

[itsclydebitches]

The issue with yangs anger, is legit that it’s never presented as a flaw until that very moment with Adam. Yangs anger has never done anything until the series decided that it had to be a problem. Her fight with Neo, She was calm. The rwby fight with Roman, she was calm. her attack against the Grimm was nothing more than a bit. Mercury, she thought he was attacking her first. Notice how her anger never escalated. And then they tie it to her semblance instead of her aura and it’s even worse.

(Slamming these asks together with @thewhitehairedwitchgirl’s - as always - excellent commentary.) 

First: yup. We’ve discussed elsewhere RT’s difficulty with building up to things, whether that’s because they didn’t know early on that they wanted that thing to happen, or because they’re just not sure how to naturally build that into the story before it becomes a Big Plot-Point. In fact, I’m starting to notice a trend wherein RWBY will provide evidence for a change right before that change occurs. Another good example involving Yang is her a relationship with Blake. Prior to their relationship becoming canon (“canon”) we saw them being much more intimate earlier in Volume 6 and arguably a bit in Volume 5. That’s the “buildup” to their bedroom eyes and hand clasping at the end of Volume 6, but people are right to point out that this buildup is pretty short, especially from an in-world perspective. We didn’t see this behavior from them in Volumes 1-3 so it “came out of nowhere.” Some fans are okay with that (I’ve argued in its defense for numerous reason). Others nevertheless have a point that RT could have – and arguably should have – provided more of that buildup over a longer period and, as a result, in a more slow, “natural” way. The same, I think, can be said of Yang’s flaw: we saw “buildup” to that right before it became an issue. Whether that was enough depends on each fan’s interpretation.

Specifically, I think the buildup occurs in the one fight not mentioned here: Yang vs. Neon.

As said, Yang is pretty calm in those other fights, but that’s arguably because the writers hadn’t figured out that Yang’s tendency to get very mad very quickly – see previous metas for evidence there – was going to turn into a legitimate flaw that the story would attempt to acknowledge. You can’t write something if you don’t know you want to write it. However, Yang vs. Neon happens right before Yang vs. Adam and serves as a pretty good way of demonstrating that flaw when Yang vs. Mercury is already doing other work. Namely, setting up her framing.

Let’s break this fight down:

We start with Flynt insulting Weiss over what her father has done. Note that she’s upset at this accusation, but not angry. She apologizes on behalf of her father and doesn’t seem inclined to let this impact her fight. Meanwhile, when Flynt continues Yang is the one who gets pissed off on Weiss’ behalf.

Neon mimics her and starts a trend of insulting Yang throughout the fight: her hair is weird, she’s top-heavy, she should go on a diet, etc. Yang is riled up before the fight has even started and, as mentioned elsewhere, Ruby recognizes this as a problem.

When the fight begins Yang can’t touch Neon. She does no damage to her. Meanwhile, Neon hits her at least fourteen times and manages to coat both an arm and a leg in ice, all while keeping the insults up so that Yang is too furious to fight well. If it’s not already obvious to the audience that this is a psychological strategy of Neon’s – see more about Yang being off-balance below – Neon herself says it. “You should cool off. Get it? Because you’re angry.” 

Neon tells her opponent that she’s too angry to see straight, let alone fight straight, and instead of taking a moment to realize, “Oh yeah. I’m so furious that I’m letting that anger blind me. I should actually breathe for a second and figure out how to beat this girl, rather than letting her string me along and emotionally manipulate me into making bad calls" Yang just gets angrier.

Neon seems to realize that this would happen. She recognizes by this point that Yang can’t put her anger aside and is thus confident enough to comment on her anger itself, knowing Yang won’t turn the tables on her. Instead, Yang starts flashing her semblance, which Neon uses as further ammo to keep Yang riled up. 

We see that Yang, while angry, isn’t capable of changing her strategy. It’s clear that running after Neon has done absolutely nothing, but that’s all Yang can think to do. She actually reaches a point where she just demands that Neon hold still so she can hit her.

And this behavior has a major consequence. Namely that Yang is so angry – so distracted – that she doesn’t notice Flynt aiming a shot of his own. Her anger has not only blinded her to Neon’s strategy and made it impossible for Yang to come up with one of her own, she’s not paying attention to her environment either. Yang doesn’t care about the second enemy on the field. She doesn’t care about her teammate. She only cares about getting back at Neon for these insults and the only reason why she isn’t taken out is because Weiss is paying attention. She’s put in a position where she has to sacrifice herself in order to protect Yang, but it’s a protection that never should have been necessary in the first place. 

When Weiss goes up in flames Yang is surprised. Oh, there was something happening over there? That level of distraction is not good. 

And when she realizes what’s happened… she just gets angrier.

Yang is finally at a point where she’s using her semblance and yeah, it does give her the boost needed to take out Flynt. But he’s the fighter whose aura is already a centimetre from the cutoff because of Weiss’ sacrifice. How does Yang beat a fully powered Neon though? She... doesn’t. Neon trips and lands very conveniently on one of the water shoots, giving Yang the chance to easily pick her off while incapacitated. There was no strategy here, only luck. Yang didn’t win, Neon just lost.

That’s a lot of character work packed into one fight and that’s what Tai is referring to. I don’t have good screenshots for their conversation but I have quotes. It begins when Tai comments that Yang is “still off balance” and Yang, surprise, gets angry: “What? No I’m not!” She also (again) gets distracted. After she declares that Tai is wrong – totally not off balance here – she starts admiring her arm and Tai comes at her with a punch that Yang just barely dodges. When he’s successfully taken her out, he clarifies, “I wasn’t talking about your actual balance. Although, that could use some work too.”

Yang still doesn’t welcome any criticism when Tai brings up the tournament. “Let me guess: I was sloppy.”

“No, no… you were predictable. And stubborn. And maybe a little boneheaded. Do you realize that you used your semblance to win every fight after the qualifiers?”

Tai is right. Those are all things we saw in Yang’s fight with Neon. For once RWBY has succeeded in showing as well as telling. Yang was predictable, both in the ease with which she let Neon continually rile her up and in her “Charge ahead and hit it” strategy that never once changed. She was stubborn. She was boneheaded, and she only (sort of) won because of her semblance. But as Tai points out, “What happens if you miss? What happens if they’re stronger? What then? Now you’re just weak and tired.” What happens if Flynt was strong enough to withstand that one attack? What if Neon didn’t conveniently trip and basically take herself out? What if, say, you fired up your semblance, charged at someone stronger than you, and they sliced off your arm?

“Your semblance won’t always save you… obviously.”

Yang voices the exact criticism the fandom relies on. What? I’m not supposed to use my semblance now? Tai clarifies that “not everyone else’s [semblance] is basically a temper tantrum.” They’re harsh words, but they’re true. The problem is not Yang using a semblance. The problem is that Yang (obviously through no fault of her own) ended up with a semblance that relies heavily on her a) taking damage, b) getting mad, and c) is something she now relies fully on to win her fights. So when it fails… she’s likely to fail too, both because she had to take those hits and because, in the act of getting mad, she can’t think straight. Unlike someone like Weiss and her OP semblance, Yang has a harder hand to deal with. It sucks, but she has to face the reality of that if she wants to survive this career. She needs to keep her emotions under control in a fight and, connected to that, she needs to fight intelligently. Note that when Flynt insults Weiss – “Too bad all that money couldn’t buy you skill” – she demonstrates that skill by combining her ice with her glyphs, creating a projectile too fast for Flynt to dodge. That’s Weiss using her semblance in a new way and keeping calm enough to make smart decisions, despite someone insulting her and clearly experiencing anger from that. 

Yang, meanwhile, let her anger consume her. She had no second strategy – involving her semblance or otherwise – and ultimately allowed her emotions to seriously hinder her. That’s the heart of Tai’s criticism: “You’ve got to keep your emotions in check. Keep a level head and think before you act.”

Which still leaves the pushback of, “But, Clyde, how is Yang supposed to think when Adam was attacking Blake? What else was she supposed to do? A traumatized 17-year-old is obviously going to get riled up. She can’t help it.” Yes, but she can learn. She can learn how to think before she acts, even in traumatic circumstances, and more importantly she can learn that skill for less traumatic events too. Note that Tai kept the criticism within the bounds of the fun tournament battle. He didn’t say, “You should have kept a level head despite seeing your friend get stabbed in the middle of a war zone” he’s saying, “You should be able to keep a level head in a meaningless tournament fight… and figuring out how to do that will assist you during the times where it really matters. Like Adam.” If you can’t do it when it should be easy, you have no chance of doing it when it’s really hard. 

Just because we expect something of someone doesn’t mean we don’t likewise strive for more. Meaning, just because the traumatized 17-year-old did what we expect a traumatized 17-year old to do - perhaps even the only thing a traumatized 17-year old could do under those circumstances - doesn’t mean Yang should never be called out on that. Namely, months later after she’s had time to recover. If we put this in slightly different terms:

Parent: Yeah, my kid found out that her friend nearly died in a car accident. It was horrible. She broke a bunch of stuff when she heard the news. I need to talk to her about that once things have calmed down some. 

Friend: What? They’re 17 and that’s a horrifying event. Of course they’re going to break things! What, you expect them to handle this situation like an adult?

Parent: No, but how will they ever learn how to handle it like an adult if I don’t teach them? How will they develop better coping skills if no one shows them any? Besides, she already has a habit of breaking things when she’s mildly upset - she’s prone to that - and I don’t want it getting out of hand.

Now slide in Yang’s situation. As Thewhitehairwitchgirl points out, what’s reckless about Yang’s actions? How could she have known what Adam’s power was? She couldn’t have, but that in and of itself is the problem. She charged at an unknown enemy without thinking through any options, without taking a moment to assess the situation, without knowing whether her semblance would be enough... and it wasn’t. That’s not something she can afford to do again in the future because next time Yang might lose her life instead. Does Tai expect her to have handled Adam differently? Based on the conversation, I’d say no. Does he still think it’s still worth using that moment as a teaching tool? Yes. Is this particularly important for Yang as an individual given that she’s already prone to letting anger blind her/charging ahead without thinking things through? Yes. As her fight with Neon demonstrates, running and punching her enemies won’t always be enough to beat them. As her fight with Adam demonstrates, running and punching her enemies with her semblance as an additional boost may not be enough to save her. Yang has to think. Even in situations where it’s really really hard to. Especially as someone who isn’t inclined to do that naturally. It’s something she, as an individual, has to conquer given her personality. Blake, for example, doesn’t need this talk because she has the opposite problem of running away from things. She’s often too cautious. Yang, who will later jump straight to “You turned my mother into a bird?” needs to learn to take a step back and not let her anger guide her.

Basically there’s a venn diagram of “17-year olds who will of course make impulsive decisions” “People experiencing a traumatic event who can’t be expected to think things through in the moment,” and “People who, as individuals, are prone to letting their anger drive them to make mistakes.” Yang just happens to sit right in the middle. 

For the Adam situation those other two categories absolutely come into play, but we also can’t ignore that Yang is poised to make that same mistake even when she’s older, even when it’s no longer a traumatic event. Indeed, as we see post Volume 3 - bird accusations, screaming at Ozpin, stealing the airship, impulsively telling Robyn, etc. - Yang is still struggling with this flaw. Even if the story seems to think that she’s overcome it. 

[spicynbachili1]

Japanator’s Anime Binge Log: Goblin Slayer

Killin’ Goblins in the Name Of

It’s time again for your semi-regular look at the season’s best and brightest anime! Welcome once more to Japanator’s Anime Binge Log! Last time we took a look at the latest chapter of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, a show that, while not universally-liked, is almost universally respected. 

This installment goes a bit deeper into the weeds with a show that managed to alienate a good chunk of its audience from the get-go: Goblin Slayer. Studio White Fox’s adaptation of the hit novel/manga stirred up a hornet’s nest of discourse with a divisive first episode, but what’s the verdict, now that about half its cour is over? That’s the question we posed to the staff and a couple of us deigned to answer!

If you’ve got a suggestion for the show to cover in our next Binge Log, don’t hesitate to tell us in the comments!

Goblin Slayer Studio: White Fox Director: Takaharu Ozaki Airdate: October 5, 2018 Watch it On: Crunchyroll The Blurb: Need some goblins slain? Give this dude a call. 

Staff Impressions:

Marcel Hoang

Oh boy, here I go with Goblin Slayer, one of my soft recommendations of the season. This is the series where I say I like it and when people ask me if they should watch it, I say, “Yes asterisk,” because I verbalize the asterisk that is the catch.

There are two sides to this asterisk. First is obviously the important part which, let’s be honest, you may not be reading this sentence anymore because you just gotta type a comment right now about the controversial rape scene in the first episode. I can try to say words, but ultimately I’m not eloquent enough to even begin saying anything about it. Let’s just say that I think we can universally agree that it was bad. In fact, the whole first episode, even barring the big oops scene is pretty bland and wholly disconnected from why I like Goblin Slayer. That part is the asterisk I mentioned. Everything I like about Goblin Slayer comes later and has nothing to do with the first episode. Hell, I don’t even need the part of the first episode that depicts the character, Goblin Slayer, as a badass, edgelord, goblin killing machine. Even that isn’t all that high on my list of why I like the guy.

Now I’m speaking as someone who is just watching the anime. Asides from the rape scene, the other things that pops up most often whenever Goblin Slayer gets talked about is how messy an adaptation it is and how the manga and then the novel are way better and have more to flesh out. But the thing that I like about Goblin Slayer so far as a limited anime viewer, is the characters themselves. Plus, these characters only get further developed from their respective mangas and novels anyways.

The hallmark is of course good old Gobby Slayer at the front. If you ignore the first episode, Goblin Slayer isn’t a huge badass. Adventurers around him think he’s a dirty, weird maniac who only kills trash mobs yet has the audacity to be considered a highly ranked, silver adventurer. He barely talks, barely interacts with people around him, and in general if you spend any amount of time with him you’ll either want to leave or just be creeped out. But that’s what the people in the show and even the viewers outside the show see. What I see is an autistic man who is living life to the fullest, on his terms. Clearly that’s just my interpretation, but the fact of the matter is that Goblin Slayer isn’t just disinterested with anything that doesn’t involve killing goblins, he’s almost incapable of it. He does try interacting with people, like trying their alcohol or discussing a plan, but it comes out so cringingly awkward, especially when he knows people around him get offended so he even goes so far as to further clarify his point after a conversation. That happens often when Priestess points out the problems in his plans and he simply replies, “I see. Ok then.”

Things pick up when a steady cast of characters get introduced, everyone only having their titles as named such as High Elf, Dwarf Mage, and Lizard Shaman. But not only do we see these demi-beasts bounce off each other, such as the natural friction between an elf and a dwarf, but we then see them interact with Goblin Slayer, who is barely human.

One point I see as a take it or leave detail is the hard fantasy. Plenty of people are turned off by hard fantasy because it’s been done to death already. Normally I’d agree, but Goblin Slayer even then doesn’t make it plain old hard fantasy. Goblin Slayer is straight up Dungeons & Dragons, right down to the dice being rolled in the OP. Magic isn’t some vague power but is a limited resource to adventurers. Goblin Slayer even asks the spellcasters, “How many spell slots they have left.” Lizard Shaman requires totems to be used in order to summon familiars, and a later boss fight involves the fireball spell in a context that is familiar to anyone who’s played D&D, particularly when one party member says to scatter but another replies, “To where?” because in D&D lore, fireball spreads out in all directions and even around corners for 20 or so feet.

Basically what I’m trying to say it, the real first episode is episode two. Throw episode one into the dumpster and toss a match in there, because nothing of value was lost.

Oh, also, before I forget, Goblin Slayer really needs some consistency on how they animate the character. Sometimes he’s respectably drawn and animated and you think he’s a proper character in a dark fantasy anime, and other times he’s this huge block of dark anime CG, and there’s no rhyme or reason when he shifts between the two. He will literally have a conversation with the adventurer’s guild marm (which should admittedly be easy to animate) then in the next scene as he walks to the side to talk to Priestess he’ll be CG. But then when he’s walking away to the door to leave, suddenly he’s animated again and not CG? Goblin Slayer isn’t just proficient at killing goblins, he’s also capable of switching between animation styles too.

Josh Tolentino

I’m right with Strider on this one: Chuck that first episode in the damn trash, because it frankly does the show a disservice. Contrary to what a public relations consultant will tell you, there IS such a thing as bad publicity, and Goblin Slayer brought a mess of it on its own head with that first episode. I don’t blame anyone at all for being turned off the show by the big scene: It was graphic, shocking, and utterly transparent and cynical in its flailing attempt to establish the show as “dark fantasy”, where “dark” is the same kind of cringe-inducing edgelord BS that drives the likes of marketing campaigns for Dante’s Inferno (the game) or similar juvenile awfulness. 

That said, that’s actually the worst thing about it, since the novel (I’ve read the first volume) establishes the edginess so much better, without having to use an explicit rape scene to do it. Given the same scene is in the manga, this is a classic case of a scene getting “punched up” for dramatic effect and resulting in unforeseen consequences. It happened to Marvel comics with the whole character of Hank Pym, and it happened to Goblin Slayer with episode one. And for what? To emphasize that Goblins – a race that is almost never portrayed as good or even tolerable – are bad? That’s honestly as pointless as writing an op-ed in a Vatican newspaper titled “The Case Against The Devil” and thinking that’s a controversial take. 

But enough about that. Goblin Slayer is a fun, atypical sort of misanthropic power fantasy that absolutely revels in how the character of the Goblin Slayer just isn’t like anyone else, for better and for worse. He’s strong, no doubt about it, but he’s not like Kirito, Goku, Superman, or Tatsuya Shiba. He’s not special, or chosen. In fact, other people are the actual chosen ones, and by episode five we’ve already seen a few of them – the characters who would be the leads in a stereotypical Dragon Quest-derived JRPG. Instead, Goblin Slayer’s hypercompetence is the result of his utter and complete dedication to the trade of murdering goblins. His expertise is clearly-hard-earned, but the show doesn’t pretend he’s any kind of aspirational figure. Occasionally it even deigns to hint that this dude with the cool helmet might not be right in the head. 

Of course, the one thing it doesn’t want to do is make Goblin Slayer look genuinely bad. Like a badass, certainly, but not truly unappealing or unrelatable. Despite being shunned and mocked by the other adventurers, he still makes friends with a full party of competent people that desire his company. And his skills constantly land him in situations that threaten to take him away from the goblin-slaying he so craves, interacting with the fringes of the epic struggle against the Demon Lord. In its way, Goblin Slayer as a show is like Konosuba for peopel who think they’d do a better job than Batman. 

And that can be pretty fun to watch, all thing considered. Just skip the first episode. 

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[apprenticemages]

I rarely pick an Episode of the Week (maybe I should?)… But if I did, this week’s episode of The Promised Neverland would be far-and-away the only possible choice.

Hit the jump and let’s take a look at that episode and everything else that happened this week!

The shows that I am watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are watching together are in bold italics, strikethrough marks dropped shows and (*) marks shows that are watched but not regularly reviewed.

(*) A Certain Magical Index III Episode 21

Misaka herself is finally on scene – hopefully time for some Electromaster butt-kicking!  (Please, please, please!!!)

Endro~! Episode 8

This ep continues the themes of the last ep – Rona (Princess) learning to appreciate the girls as people rather than as abstract roles in a story.  It was touching as hell to see her reaction to Yuuria proclaiming that she didn’t ride to the rescue because she was a Hero…  But because Rona was her friend.

It’s an interesting and different way of looking at heroism – using it as an ex post facto description of events rather than as a role or type.

But nobody seems to have remarked on Mao’s transition to and from her Demon Lord form.  Did they just think it was an act, something powered by Cartado?

Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka / Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka Episode 8

This episode was…  very freaking annoying.

The first annoyance was that the existence of a series of gaping plot holes was really driven home.

The bad guys can create Magical Girls.  The good guys can’t or won’t. The bad guys have access to sorcerers.  The good guys don’t. The bad guys have access to items and item users.  The good guys don’t.

Now some of this can probably be chalked up to the penury of Japan’s magical defense organization…  But, at least so far, none of the other good guy nations seem to be any different.

The second, and far greater, annoyance is that level of torture and gore has reached a level best described as purely gratuitous.  None of that was really need to drive plot or establish character.  The sexual content of the torture scene was basically there for titillation and nothing else.

I’m about this close to dropping Asuka and walking away.

(*) My Roommate is a Cat / Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue Episode 8

Run with the Wind / Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru Episode 20

And this episode is where Wind‘s bad habit of cliffhangers with no consequences came home to roost.  They were really trying to deliver the feels as Takahasi struggled against his illness to complete one of the toughest segments of the Hakone Ekiden…  But I couldn’t feel as much as they wanted me to because the team has never suffered even the most minor setback or slowdown.

Wind is excellent as a character drama, but it’s increasingly breaking down as a sports drama.  It’s just so weird that the two halves are so poorly integrated.

Sword Art Online: Alicization Episode 20

Lots of talking, not a great deal of action…   They teased the hell out of us getting to see Kirito dual wield again, only to have it (literally) snatched away at the last moment.

(*) That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 22

Seriously Rimuru?  After the number of times you’ve swatted aside dire threats without breaking a sweat…  Lines like this carry absolutely no weight.

The Price of Smiles / Egao no Daika Episode 9

Over on the Soleil side of things, Smiles has never really hesitated to moralize…  In fact, one could argue that the whole reason for Yuki’s existence.  But this episode, yuck.  They laid it on about as thick as possible without actually becoming a non-fiction documentary.

Mind you, I’m not objecting to the moralizing per se!  Allegory is a time-honored way of addressing real world issues and getting the viewer to think of things in ways they might not otherwise have done.  Even straight up morality tales can provide a strong dose of thinking wrapped up as entertainment.  I’m objecting to the particularly heavy-handed and clumsy way Smiles chose to clarify and deliver its message.

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND / Yakusoku no Neverland Episode 8

Just when I didn’t think Neverland could up it’s game any further…  Everything got punched up to 11.  Didn’t even ask me to hold its beer.  Didn’t spill a drop either.

I think these two images neatly sum up the episode…

One of my odder hobbies is a fascination with true crime books.  Isabella/Mom reminds me of several of serial killers and murderers I’ve read about – convinced that’s she’s saving her victims from something much more horrible.  Her delusion is so all-encompassing that she even interpreted Emma’s attack as an act of love.

The Quintessential Quintuplets / 5 Toubun no Hanayome Episode 8

Yay!  Finally, Yotsuba (undoubted Best Girl) gets her character episode and she really shines.  They really got me with her false confession, especially since just moments before they’d shown us just how bad she is at lying.  It was especially telling how she turned down the invitations from the basketball club.

The other half of the plot…  meh.  Childhood friends as so overdone.

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And…  that’s my week all neatly summed up.  A bit short and a bit late because class on Tuesday (and a club photoshoot on Wednesday) really ate up my time this week.

How did your week go?  Your thoughts on these episodes?  Drop a comment and let’s chat!

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Winter 2019 – Week 8 I rarely pick an Episode of the Week (maybe I should?)... But if I did, this week's episode of…