i started watching the Netflix Original Anime Series The Seven Deadly Sins
it was maybe the most meat and potatoes anime ive ever seen in my life?
it wasnt bad bad mind you (some bbbllleeegghhh misogyny aside, that was bad bad fosho), it had some kinda nifty ideas i guess and the music was fun, like the non metal bits in a folk metal album or something, kinda cheesy and deliberately medival/high-fantasy-y
I picked up The fourth volume of Mater Keaton while on vacation and I had to remind myself that this was written during the late 80s/early 90s when I saw references to Margret Thatcher and The Troubles. Like, oh yeah, those were current events when this was written.
Now and Then, Here and There really is as brutal as people make it out to be. It's also really, really good, if not without flaws which the solid but somewhat cartoony English dub makes oddly clear in places. Apparently the Japanese is very natural-sounding, though, which apparently makes it even more unsettling in some places—although topping Jack Taylor's Hamdo is hard given that his take on the king is at once completely over-the-top and utterly convincing. He just really makes you want to pause the show just to run off and take a bath. So, so creepy and gross.
perfect insider is making me think things like "this is so unrealistic, goddamn this is so illegal let the government handle it" and in sum i did not know i was this boring
The Asterisk War (six episodes in): Trite, pandering with the usual amount of cliches, lacking in nuance and decent characterization, standard-fare boring main dude with generic offensive potential. Character designs are kind of nice, by which I mean are serviceable and I find a couple of the girls cute.
Still going to keep current with it, since it fills a particular niche for me (right now?).
Julis can be kinda cute at times at least (regardless of how predictable I find her characterization or cute moments to be), though, and that image set reminds me of Central, so that's nice.
Also I forgot to say, but I just noticed as I was doing stuff while the ED played: Music's nothing to write home about, least to me. Pretty forgettable.
This is actually a good question that I was surprised to see in a show like this. Granted, the show ended up dismissing this as a "foreigners don't understand Japan" thing, which is not exactly great.
is going on a diet more of a thing in japan than, say, here, because i haven't gotten that impression
I am not sure if it is more of a thing in Japan than here, but I get the impression that a lot of anime series, especially slice of life ones, include some bit about a female character needing to lose weight despite outwardly looking quite thin.
I have now finished The Castle of Cagliostro. Definitely one of my favorite adaptations of Lupin and a great part to the Lupin universe, in addition to being a damn good movie. It's a non-standard treatment of Lupin in some ways, as Miyazaki ramps of the gentlemanly aspects of Lupin's character and tones down his more perverted aspects. It's still the same Lupin we known and love, but his best aspects as a person are turned up to 11, while some of his baser instincts are only mildly hinted at. It has kind of a slow start at first, but the second half is easily pure gold.
Although finishing my Utena rewatch is a higher priority; ditto finishing Denpa Onna and Now and Then, Here and There.
...fuck, I have an actual backlog. I should actually put my money where my mouth is and straight up review/analyse anime on my blog instead of just saying "I have thoughts" here all the time.
The fights get really freaky in the second arc. But the second arc is, in general, just very disturbing. They get really nuts in terms of outright action and symbolism in the third, of course, but those episodes are a bit more formulaic in that aspect despite the baseline of insanity and intensity being very high.
I think my beef with the third arc the first time around really was that it felt more predictable than the second despite being more visually extravagant, and that disappointed me. Like, the fights in the Black Rose arc get outright scary because you just have no idea what's going to happen next for a while, nor any idea what's really going on.
Compared to most anime? It is really, really gay. Anime is pretty hetero, if you haven't noticed, and Utena is equal-opportunity when it comes to weird subtext and, well, text.
Compared to most anime? It is really, really gay. Anime is pretty hetero, if you haven't noticed, and Utena is equal-opportunity when it comes to weird subtext and, well, text.
I was being contrarian for funsies. I've watched the show at least twice, and I do find comments about how plainly gay stuff Is Not Actually Gay to be rather silly, but I did not have glenn on mind.
But yeah, it's not just lesbian stuff in that show. There is unambiguous gay sex between two dudes at one point, albeit offstage.
There are also three different sibling relationships that can be read as having varying levels of incestiness, although that's more because Ikuhara likes to use unhealthy romantic attraction as shorthand for other stuff.
I was being contrarian for funsies. I've watched the show at least twice, and I do find comments about how plainly gay stuff Is Not Actually Gay to be rather silly, but I did not have glenn on mind.
Indeed. Although to be honest, I feel like while Ikuhara is a bit more blatant about the symbolic aspects of his work, he's also a more nuanced character writer than Urobuchi, if a far less meticulous plotter.
Having re-watched Juri's final duel (the one with Ruka), I'm really shocked at how badly I misread Ruka's motivations the first time around. And wow, how it ends, and how the episode ends...
Spoiler:
Of all the battles in the Akio arc, Juri's is the first to not have someone in a car, which really puts the whole duel in perspective for me. Ruka has known for a very long time that Juri was in love with Shiori, and that Shiori only took up with him the first time to take something precious from her to satisfy her abysmal sense of self-worth. Where those in the cars wanted the revolutions wanted what their combatants sought for their own sakes, Ruka wanted Juri to have the power to either gain Shiori's love or transcend it and move on despite himself. He loves her, but she must gain the closure that she deserves, even if she can only do that by rejecting and despising him.
Note also that while Ruka shares the pale streak we see in Touga's hair, the colour with which he is associated is the opposite virtue: For Touga's manipulation in the name of righteous strength (Gevurah, red)—a reaction to his powerlessness as an abused child, Enokido has said—we have manipulation in the name of selfless love and mercy (Chesed, blue). This Tree of Life theme is carried further when we see Juri reject the opportunity to win the duel, despite the fact that she has true conviction and the upper hand. She rejects divine illumination (Hod, orange) because what pain that would bring her and others is already illuminated. She has what she sought, and chooses mercy. Ruka consoles her, having released her, and dies.
Comments
it was maybe the most meat and potatoes anime ive ever seen in my life?
it wasnt bad bad mind you (some bbbllleeegghhh misogyny aside, that was bad bad fosho), it had some kinda nifty ideas i guess and the music was fun, like the non metal bits in a folk metal album or something, kinda cheesy and deliberately medival/high-fantasy-y
but mostly it was really, really average
this scene was good tho
i'm a nerd
This is actually a good question that I was surprised to see in a show like this. Granted, the show ended up dismissing this as a "foreigners don't understand Japan" thing, which is not exactly great.
Definitely doing a stream for this at some point.
Although finishing my Utena rewatch is a higher priority; ditto finishing Denpa Onna and Now and Then, Here and There.
...fuck, I have an actual backlog. I should actually put my money where my mouth is and straight up review/analyse anime on my blog instead of just saying "I have thoughts" here all the time.
I understand. But I just do not have the energy sometimes.
Like you have no idea. Juri is but the tip of the iceberg.
Also, best duellist. Seriously, Juri is badass. I love her.
Compared to YKA? Yeah, barely.
But yeah, it's not just lesbian stuff in that show. There is unambiguous gay sex between two dudes at one point, albeit offstage.
There are also three different sibling relationships that can be read as having varying levels of incestiness, although that's more because Ikuhara likes to use unhealthy romantic attraction as shorthand for other stuff.
Not surprising.
Note also that while Ruka shares the pale streak we see in Touga's hair, the colour with which he is associated is the opposite virtue: For Touga's manipulation in the name of righteous strength (Gevurah, red)—a reaction to his powerlessness as an abused child, Enokido has said—we have manipulation in the name of selfless love and mercy (Chesed, blue). This Tree of Life theme is carried further when we see Juri reject the opportunity to win the duel, despite the fact that she has true conviction and the upper hand. She rejects divine illumination (Hod, orange) because what pain that would bring her and others is already illuminated. She has what she sought, and chooses mercy. Ruka consoles her, having released her, and dies.