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Jun. 10th, 2008 11:44 am I think I slept wrong, because now I have a serious cramp in my neck. I sincerely hope it goes away before work.
Jun. 10th, 2008
(no subject)
Jun. 10th, 2008 11:44 am I think I slept wrong, because now I have a serious cramp in my neck. I sincerely hope it goes away before work.
Melody of Oblivion eps 3-5
Jun. 10th, 2008 02:31 pmThese episodes featured Bocca and Sayoko in a resort-type town where the citizens know about the monster, but quietly let it take their children as long as it lets them live in peace, aside from the occasional lynch mob.
Essentially, the whole part of anime where Our Heroes go around checking out how other parts of their society and seeing how they deal with The Evil.
I feel compelled to point out that, mixed in with the misogyny and the WTF-ery, there are some interesting bits. The world mythology, while common for anime, is interesting, it has some nice "heroic coming of age" vibes, and there are some fun send-ups to westerns. For all that she's deliberately a brainless fanservice girl, Sayoko has a fair bit of common sense. If a monster attacks, she doesn't stand around screaming, waiting to be rescued, but instead takes off running. If someone else is screaming and waiting to be rescued, she grabs them and keeps going, and she seems to glom on to what people are really like fairly well. I like her, and would probably like Bocca, if they could decide whether he's a stoic, an idealist, or a pervert.
But the misogyny...oh, the misogyny. How can I sum it up to get the point across in the simplest way possible...
Let's try this:
The main female character (who is essentially a walking fetish) has manacles on her wrists with chain links attached. When the object of her affections (as yet, it's unclear whether or not he returns her affections, or has any interest in her beyond not wanting her to get killed off chasing after him) uses his powers, the chain links perk up and point her in his direction, and he goes running.
You know, I can't help but think that if this anime weren't so caught up in trying to be abstract and clever, it'd actually be pretty good. It has the rudiments of a good action anime with deeper meaning behind the action, but that gets lost in the dressing. It's kind of like how I loved the first arc of Revolutionary Girl Utena, but after that, the animators started trying to see how abstract and symbolic they could be, to the point where all I could really process at the end was that someone was driving around in his car and seducing people with it and the guys were lounging on the car with their shirts spontaneously springing open, and people were having sex in the backseat of the car and I did not understand and could not tell what I was supposed to be getting from that except that the car had somer serious mojo going for it.
Essentially, the whole part of anime where Our Heroes go around checking out how other parts of their society and seeing how they deal with The Evil.
I feel compelled to point out that, mixed in with the misogyny and the WTF-ery, there are some interesting bits. The world mythology, while common for anime, is interesting, it has some nice "heroic coming of age" vibes, and there are some fun send-ups to westerns. For all that she's deliberately a brainless fanservice girl, Sayoko has a fair bit of common sense. If a monster attacks, she doesn't stand around screaming, waiting to be rescued, but instead takes off running. If someone else is screaming and waiting to be rescued, she grabs them and keeps going, and she seems to glom on to what people are really like fairly well. I like her, and would probably like Bocca, if they could decide whether he's a stoic, an idealist, or a pervert.
But the misogyny...oh, the misogyny. How can I sum it up to get the point across in the simplest way possible...
Let's try this:
The main female character (who is essentially a walking fetish) has manacles on her wrists with chain links attached. When the object of her affections (as yet, it's unclear whether or not he returns her affections, or has any interest in her beyond not wanting her to get killed off chasing after him) uses his powers, the chain links perk up and point her in his direction, and he goes running.
You know, I can't help but think that if this anime weren't so caught up in trying to be abstract and clever, it'd actually be pretty good. It has the rudiments of a good action anime with deeper meaning behind the action, but that gets lost in the dressing. It's kind of like how I loved the first arc of Revolutionary Girl Utena, but after that, the animators started trying to see how abstract and symbolic they could be, to the point where all I could really process at the end was that someone was driving around in his car and seducing people with it and the guys were lounging on the car with their shirts spontaneously springing open, and people were having sex in the backseat of the car and I did not understand and could not tell what I was supposed to be getting from that except that the car had somer serious mojo going for it.
Melody of Oblivion eps 3-5
Jun. 10th, 2008 02:31 pmThese episodes featured Bocca and Sayoko in a resort-type town where the citizens know about the monster, but quietly let it take their children as long as it lets them live in peace, aside from the occasional lynch mob.
Essentially, the whole part of anime where Our Heroes go around checking out how other parts of their society and seeing how they deal with The Evil.
I feel compelled to point out that, mixed in with the misogyny and the WTF-ery, there are some interesting bits. The world mythology, while common for anime, is interesting, it has some nice "heroic coming of age" vibes, and there are some fun send-ups to westerns. For all that she's deliberately a brainless fanservice girl, Sayoko has a fair bit of common sense. If a monster attacks, she doesn't stand around screaming, waiting to be rescued, but instead takes off running. If someone else is screaming and waiting to be rescued, she grabs them and keeps going, and she seems to glom on to what people are really like fairly well. I like her, and would probably like Bocca, if they could decide whether he's a stoic, an idealist, or a pervert.
But the misogyny...oh, the misogyny. How can I sum it up to get the point across in the simplest way possible...
Let's try this:
The main female character (who is essentially a walking fetish) has manacles on her wrists with chain links attached. When the object of her affections (as yet, it's unclear whether or not he returns her affections, or has any interest in her beyond not wanting her to get killed off chasing after him) uses his powers, the chain links perk up and point her in his direction, and he goes running.
You know, I can't help but think that if this anime weren't so caught up in trying to be abstract and clever, it'd actually be pretty good. It has the rudiments of a good action anime with deeper meaning behind the action, but that gets lost in the dressing. It's kind of like how I loved the first arc of Revolutionary Girl Utena, but after that, the animators started trying to see how abstract and symbolic they could be, to the point where all I could really process at the end was that someone was driving around in his car and seducing people with it and the guys were lounging on the car with their shirts spontaneously springing open, and people were having sex in the backseat of the car and I did not understand and could not tell what I was supposed to be getting from that except that the car had somer serious mojo going for it.
Essentially, the whole part of anime where Our Heroes go around checking out how other parts of their society and seeing how they deal with The Evil.
I feel compelled to point out that, mixed in with the misogyny and the WTF-ery, there are some interesting bits. The world mythology, while common for anime, is interesting, it has some nice "heroic coming of age" vibes, and there are some fun send-ups to westerns. For all that she's deliberately a brainless fanservice girl, Sayoko has a fair bit of common sense. If a monster attacks, she doesn't stand around screaming, waiting to be rescued, but instead takes off running. If someone else is screaming and waiting to be rescued, she grabs them and keeps going, and she seems to glom on to what people are really like fairly well. I like her, and would probably like Bocca, if they could decide whether he's a stoic, an idealist, or a pervert.
But the misogyny...oh, the misogyny. How can I sum it up to get the point across in the simplest way possible...
Let's try this:
The main female character (who is essentially a walking fetish) has manacles on her wrists with chain links attached. When the object of her affections (as yet, it's unclear whether or not he returns her affections, or has any interest in her beyond not wanting her to get killed off chasing after him) uses his powers, the chain links perk up and point her in his direction, and he goes running.
You know, I can't help but think that if this anime weren't so caught up in trying to be abstract and clever, it'd actually be pretty good. It has the rudiments of a good action anime with deeper meaning behind the action, but that gets lost in the dressing. It's kind of like how I loved the first arc of Revolutionary Girl Utena, but after that, the animators started trying to see how abstract and symbolic they could be, to the point where all I could really process at the end was that someone was driving around in his car and seducing people with it and the guys were lounging on the car with their shirts spontaneously springing open, and people were having sex in the backseat of the car and I did not understand and could not tell what I was supposed to be getting from that except that the car had somer serious mojo going for it.
So, what makes a girl not be a victim?
Jun. 10th, 2008 04:23 pmEarlier today, someone(I forget who...if it was you, tell me!) linked to an article about long-suffering women of prime time TV. One thing it briefly touches on is that some women are victims and some aren't, despite suffering the same-or worse-hardships as the "victims." On the one hand, with the characters I recognize, I wholeheartedly agree in the case of which women are victims, and which aren't. The article, though, never really delves into this, and barely mentions it more than in passing.
So, I'm wondering, what makes a female character a victim, and what makes her not be a victim?
For me, I think a lot of it can be explained with Makie, Rin, and Hyakurin in Blade of the Immortal.
ETA: And the reason I used this icon instead of Rin was because I was originally going to talk about Jo, too, but ran out of time before I had to leave for work. I suspect I'd have MUCH more to say here if I'd seen season 3 and Bela's arc, but for now, just Jo.
TL;DR?
I think a lot of it has to do with whether the character sits there and mopes, or gets back on her feet and tries to punch what knocked her down in the face.
Anyway, what's everyone else's opinion on this? What's the line (not including the experience itself) between what makes a character a victim, and what keeps them from being a victim?
So, I'm wondering, what makes a female character a victim, and what makes her not be a victim?
For me, I think a lot of it can be explained with Makie, Rin, and Hyakurin in Blade of the Immortal.
ETA: And the reason I used this icon instead of Rin was because I was originally going to talk about Jo, too, but ran out of time before I had to leave for work. I suspect I'd have MUCH more to say here if I'd seen season 3 and Bela's arc, but for now, just Jo.
TL;DR?
I think a lot of it has to do with whether the character sits there and mopes, or gets back on her feet and tries to punch what knocked her down in the face.
Anyway, what's everyone else's opinion on this? What's the line (not including the experience itself) between what makes a character a victim, and what keeps them from being a victim?
So, what makes a girl not be a victim?
Jun. 10th, 2008 04:23 pmEarlier today, someone(I forget who...if it was you, tell me!) linked to an article about long-suffering women of prime time TV. One thing it briefly touches on is that some women are victims and some aren't, despite suffering the same-or worse-hardships as the "victims." On the one hand, with the characters I recognize, I wholeheartedly agree in the case of which women are victims, and which aren't. The article, though, never really delves into this, and barely mentions it more than in passing.
So, I'm wondering, what makes a female character a victim, and what makes her not be a victim?
For me, I think a lot of it can be explained with Makie, Rin, and Hyakurin in Blade of the Immortal.
ETA: And the reason I used this icon instead of Rin was because I was originally going to talk about Jo, too, but ran out of time before I had to leave for work. I suspect I'd have MUCH more to say here if I'd seen season 3 and Bela's arc, but for now, just Jo.
TL;DR?
I think a lot of it has to do with whether the character sits there and mopes, or gets back on her feet and tries to punch what knocked her down in the face.
Anyway, what's everyone else's opinion on this? What's the line (not including the experience itself) between what makes a character a victim, and what keeps them from being a victim?
So, I'm wondering, what makes a female character a victim, and what makes her not be a victim?
For me, I think a lot of it can be explained with Makie, Rin, and Hyakurin in Blade of the Immortal.
ETA: And the reason I used this icon instead of Rin was because I was originally going to talk about Jo, too, but ran out of time before I had to leave for work. I suspect I'd have MUCH more to say here if I'd seen season 3 and Bela's arc, but for now, just Jo.
TL;DR?
I think a lot of it has to do with whether the character sits there and mopes, or gets back on her feet and tries to punch what knocked her down in the face.
Anyway, what's everyone else's opinion on this? What's the line (not including the experience itself) between what makes a character a victim, and what keeps them from being a victim?
Having grown up together in Essex, cousins Cecelia and Kate decide to write to each other regularly when Kate and her sister Georgina go to London for the season with their Aunt Charlotte. Aunt Charlotte would have left Kate behind, but you can’t bring the younger sister out before the older, and so she decided to bring them both out at once, and just keep the less stunning Kate hidden in a corner.
Not, of course, that this works out well, as a white haired woman mistakes Kate for the Marquis of Schofield and attempts to give her chocolate that, when accidentally spilled, burns through her dress. How Kate could possibly be mistaken as the Marquis is a complete mystery to her (and, for a lot of the book, the reader) as they don’t remotely look alike, even before the whole gender thing is taken into account. Soon, however, Kate meets the Marquis and finds herself drawn into his private battle with the woman, and masquerading as his fiancee.
Meanwhile, back in Essex, Cecelia has befriended an attractive but scatterbrained young woman named Dorothea, who all the men in the area are inexplicably besotted with, even the ones who were already in love with someone else. On top of this, a strange man named James Tarleton is not-so-discretely spying on one of the girls, and strange (and possibly sinister) things are going on with a local gentleman with quite the library on magical subjects. Not only that, but Cecelia is discovering that she has quite the knack for magic charm bags.
Not, of course, that this works out well, as a white haired woman mistakes Kate for the Marquis of Schofield and attempts to give her chocolate that, when accidentally spilled, burns through her dress. How Kate could possibly be mistaken as the Marquis is a complete mystery to her (and, for a lot of the book, the reader) as they don’t remotely look alike, even before the whole gender thing is taken into account. Soon, however, Kate meets the Marquis and finds herself drawn into his private battle with the woman, and masquerading as his fiancee.
Meanwhile, back in Essex, Cecelia has befriended an attractive but scatterbrained young woman named Dorothea, who all the men in the area are inexplicably besotted with, even the ones who were already in love with someone else. On top of this, a strange man named James Tarleton is not-so-discretely spying on one of the girls, and strange (and possibly sinister) things are going on with a local gentleman with quite the library on magical subjects. Not only that, but Cecelia is discovering that she has quite the knack for magic charm bags.
( more )
Having grown up together in Essex, cousins Cecelia and Kate decide to write to each other regularly when Kate and her sister Georgina go to London for the season with their Aunt Charlotte. Aunt Charlotte would have left Kate behind, but you can’t bring the younger sister out before the older, and so she decided to bring them both out at once, and just keep the less stunning Kate hidden in a corner.
Not, of course, that this works out well, as a white haired woman mistakes Kate for the Marquis of Schofield and attempts to give her chocolate that, when accidentally spilled, burns through her dress. How Kate could possibly be mistaken as the Marquis is a complete mystery to her (and, for a lot of the book, the reader) as they don’t remotely look alike, even before the whole gender thing is taken into account. Soon, however, Kate meets the Marquis and finds herself drawn into his private battle with the woman, and masquerading as his fiancee.
Meanwhile, back in Essex, Cecelia has befriended an attractive but scatterbrained young woman named Dorothea, who all the men in the area are inexplicably besotted with, even the ones who were already in love with someone else. On top of this, a strange man named James Tarleton is not-so-discretely spying on one of the girls, and strange (and possibly sinister) things are going on with a local gentleman with quite the library on magical subjects. Not only that, but Cecelia is discovering that she has quite the knack for magic charm bags.
Not, of course, that this works out well, as a white haired woman mistakes Kate for the Marquis of Schofield and attempts to give her chocolate that, when accidentally spilled, burns through her dress. How Kate could possibly be mistaken as the Marquis is a complete mystery to her (and, for a lot of the book, the reader) as they don’t remotely look alike, even before the whole gender thing is taken into account. Soon, however, Kate meets the Marquis and finds herself drawn into his private battle with the woman, and masquerading as his fiancee.
Meanwhile, back in Essex, Cecelia has befriended an attractive but scatterbrained young woman named Dorothea, who all the men in the area are inexplicably besotted with, even the ones who were already in love with someone else. On top of this, a strange man named James Tarleton is not-so-discretely spying on one of the girls, and strange (and possibly sinister) things are going on with a local gentleman with quite the library on magical subjects. Not only that, but Cecelia is discovering that she has quite the knack for magic charm bags.
( more )