anime

[meganbmoore]

Anyone have any opinions on the following:

Banner of the Stars
D.N.Angel
Elfen Lied
Gantz
Serial Experiments Lain The f-list, it disapproves.
Speed Grapher
Vandread

Also, Blue Seed OVA: Yes? Maybe? "Think 'Slayers OVA'?" Etc?

Please put major spoilers under this code: <span style="color: #333333;background-color: #333333">Spoilers here.</span>

Comments

Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Isn't the relationship between Kusanagi and Batou amazingly subtle yet incredibly hot? I mean - the coats!

So I wrote about GitS for my final paper in my anime class (female empowerment and post-modernism) and I'd like to quote a snippet if you don't mind:

Silvio provides two readings of Ghost in the Shell. In his second, he lists the ways that the film subverts the ungendered and progressive initial reading of the text. He mentions the scene in which Batou is on the boat with Kusanagi and sees her start to undress. “The female cyborg body is positioned with her back to the camera– now the surrogate for both Batou and the spectator’s gaze [...] because her face is averted from the source of these multiple looks [...] Kusanagi does not return them and thus serves instead as their passive, eroticized object” (Silvio, 9) While his interpretation is well thought out and has some validity, I feel that Silvio is missing the actual meaning of that scene by taking it out of the context of the other interactions between Batou and Kusanagi. It is clear that Batou deeply respects the Major; in Innocence his new partner Togusa comments, “There’s no way I can measure up to [her].” But Batou is also the only character who treats Kusanagi as female, in addition to a skilled Special Operative. Through out Oshii’s two films, Batou keeps placing his coat around Kusanagi’s shoulders. He does this twice in the first film, first after her fight with one of the Puppeteers minions, and then after her fight with a tank. Even when Kusanagi is in the sexless body of a doll in Innocence, Batou puts his vest around her, a simple act of caring and consideration. When viewed in light of these interactions, what is significant about the scene on the boat is not Batou’s look, but how quickly he looks away. As I read that scene, Batou looks over at her to continue their conversation, realizes she’s undressing, and, after a brief shocked pause, looks away. Batou’s reaction establishes Kusanagi as explicitly female but also establishes Batou’s respect for her: if he felt he had any right to be looking at her, he wouldn’t have looked away so quickly. The camera doesn’t emphasize Batou’s gestures of caring and so never implies that they are something that she needs. Instead, they are freely offered symbols of affection. This scene is important, because it codes Kusanagi as female but doesn’t objectify or take away any of her power.

Re: Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the series? (Both seasons?) There's a lot more of that, there, both the gender identification, and Kusanagi/Batou. It's more cyberpunk noir and less existentialism, but I actually prefer it(because,,,existentialism isn't really my thing...but cyberounk noir is.)

Re: Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I haven't, actually. I've just seen the movie, which I loved more than I realized the first time I watched it.

Re: Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Definately hunt down the series, then. (And hey, as far as I know, most of the fandom that bothers to ship ships Kusanagi/Batou.)

Re: Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That is what I like to hear.

Re: Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, do check the series out; if you liked just the movies I suspect you'll like it a lot. Well, perhaps not the all-tachibana episodes...

Re: Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Gaaah...Tachibanas. I swear, I must be the only person in the world who doesn't think they're the cutest things ever, vut rather, were in serious need of having their voice circuits deactivated.

Re: Can I be a crazy shipper for a moment?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I really should.