June 24th, 2022
Commentary: Flanders no Inu (Movie)
Anime Relations: Flanders no Inu, Flanders no Inu (Movie), Hotarubi no Mori e, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
One of my favorite things about this anime "the Dog of Flanders" is that it never panders to you. It never tries to sugarcoat anything. Like one of the reviewers said, when you're an outcast, that's not a cue for you to suddenly gain superpowers. When you're depressed and in the shithole, nothing special happens to you.
And that is what I appreciate about Dog of Flanders. There is no one coming to save the main character. He's on his own, and the only thing he has by his side is his dog. You have to respect that sort of realism. Because there is far more to think about compared to other anime where magic powers are your get-out-of-jail-free card. And even if there are no powers, most anime still try to make a bearable ending. They try to create redeeming emotions, which is what I think "Your Lie in April" did, which I didn't like. Your Lie in April tried too hard to guide how I felt throughout the series. Whether that be trying to make me feel happy, sad, get me to laugh, or get me to gasp.. there was always a dramatic factor to its execution that wasn't in tune with how I felt. To put it bluntly, it wasn't real enough; it wasn't unapologetic. When you watch the final episode of Your Life in April, the main character tries to speak from a place of happiness, nostalgia, and appreciation.. which I can understand, but still felt premature to me as the viewer.
You may call me a masochist. But there is something I truly appreciate about anime like "the Dog of Flanders" and "Hotarubi no Mori e." Showing rather than telling is effective.
And that is what I appreciate about Dog of Flanders. There is no one coming to save the main character. He's on his own, and the only thing he has by his side is his dog. You have to respect that sort of realism. Because there is far more to think about compared to other anime where magic powers are your get-out-of-jail-free card. And even if there are no powers, most anime still try to make a bearable ending. They try to create redeeming emotions, which is what I think "Your Lie in April" did, which I didn't like. Your Lie in April tried too hard to guide how I felt throughout the series. Whether that be trying to make me feel happy, sad, get me to laugh, or get me to gasp.. there was always a dramatic factor to its execution that wasn't in tune with how I felt. To put it bluntly, it wasn't real enough; it wasn't unapologetic. When you watch the final episode of Your Life in April, the main character tries to speak from a place of happiness, nostalgia, and appreciation.. which I can understand, but still felt premature to me as the viewer.
You may call me a masochist. But there is something I truly appreciate about anime like "the Dog of Flanders" and "Hotarubi no Mori e." Showing rather than telling is effective.
Posted by NealTenshio | Jun 24, 2022 4:39 PM | 0 comments
Tragic Films about History that Don’t Exist:
Anime Relations: Hotaru no Haka, Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni
I have been watching a lot of films. Should we feel sorry for the innocent lives that died or were affected by the bombs and the wars that happened during WWII? Yes. And with things like Grave of the Fireflies and In This Corner of the World, it is nice to show the lives of common Japanese civilians trying to live normal lives and having that be obtruded. And this is really going to sound like whatabouttism because it sort of is... but I still can't get my mind past what the Japanese have also done during times of war, such as the Rape of Nanking and Unit 731. Why does nobody dare not to touch subjects that are so grotesque? Perhaps it's not just because they are grotesque, which they are immensely, but also because it would have implications upon the government and the rest of the country. Maybe I am missing films that touch upon the subjects of the Rape of Nanking and Unit 731 (cause I've never seen nor heard of them), but these are one of the worst disasters and most important events that have ever happened in human history along with concentration camps that have happened all around the world. We have stuff like Schindler's List, Anne Frank books, Grave of the Fireflies and In This Corner of the World, but where are the films dedicated to the events with Japanese perpetration? To the public consciousness, they are vital... critical... and missing.
Posted by NealTenshio | Jun 24, 2022 3:49 PM | 0 comments
June 23rd, 2022
Favorite Character: Kaiki, Deishuu
I've always had Kaiki as one of my favorite characters. Even before I watched that surprising final arc within "Monogatari Series: Second Season." Why?
Well I've always liked these kinds of characters with dead looks on their faces. Blank expressions. It looks like a mix of some emotions. It's not necessarily a disinterested look. It's more... "I'm irritated and so leave me the fuck alone" as well as "I'm sick and tired... and sick and tired of being sick and tired." Lain from "Serial Experiments Lain" also does this expression well too, and I like her for that. But the reason she's not one of my favorite characters is because there's not much more to her character. Kaiki on the other hand, has additional flairs. He seems to be a cynical man made purely out of logic, and was believed to be a completely selfish character. However, I never believed him to be a pure villain. Maybe it's just through the author's genius and how brilliantly he indirectly communicated it to me. But I had an intuition early on: this villain in Monogatari is also the protagonist of his own story. And with this realization, this character stuck with me. Kaiki was different from me and similar to me at the same time. I had his attitude and a cynical mind for the world, but I was nowhere near as committed as him in being selfish. Even though a part of me wanted to. I found him relatable in a sense.
Kaiki never believed for himself that he should be a good person or a bad person.
I think what the final arc of "Second Season" shows is the expansion in Kaiki's character that he is human. Because beforethen, he was always cold and calculating, never wanting to be involved in something unless it benefited him. And so for once, we get to see the part of him that shows his "humanity," so to speak, or his heart that would guide him in his actions.
I love how Monogatari is always showing us these important parts where the characters really have to step up to the plate.
People hate Sengoku Nadeko for being the antagonist, but it would be missing the point if we wanted to eliminate this essential element: that what happens is that individuals undergo things that push the limit of who they are and what they're capable of.
For Nadeko, it shows the side of humanity that's capable and susceptible to the kind of nihilism that would love to see the world suffer as a reflection of the suffering that happens within oneself.
The Senjou-Kaiki story explores that there are things worth fighting for.
That's contrast to the initial deadness of Kaiki's character. His amoral worldview is what's monotone... it's the portrayal of his kind of character that believes things have to be rooted in logic to be done. But this is challenged. And after some contemplation, he decides to help Senjougahara, and manages to go all the way in doing so.
He manages to manefist a very different part of him, but still a part of him that is all-too-him nonetheless. To show us that there are things we can care about, something worth fighting for... beyond logic... beyond the idea that this is simply a dog-eat-dog world where every con-man is only out for himself.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Kaiki's character be additionally fleshed out and in a way that was true to the character. He's still one of my favorite characters, although now from our updated view he seems to be a bit less cynical.
Well I've always liked these kinds of characters with dead looks on their faces. Blank expressions. It looks like a mix of some emotions. It's not necessarily a disinterested look. It's more... "I'm irritated and so leave me the fuck alone" as well as "I'm sick and tired... and sick and tired of being sick and tired." Lain from "Serial Experiments Lain" also does this expression well too, and I like her for that. But the reason she's not one of my favorite characters is because there's not much more to her character. Kaiki on the other hand, has additional flairs. He seems to be a cynical man made purely out of logic, and was believed to be a completely selfish character. However, I never believed him to be a pure villain. Maybe it's just through the author's genius and how brilliantly he indirectly communicated it to me. But I had an intuition early on: this villain in Monogatari is also the protagonist of his own story. And with this realization, this character stuck with me. Kaiki was different from me and similar to me at the same time. I had his attitude and a cynical mind for the world, but I was nowhere near as committed as him in being selfish. Even though a part of me wanted to. I found him relatable in a sense.
Kaiki never believed for himself that he should be a good person or a bad person.
I think what the final arc of "Second Season" shows is the expansion in Kaiki's character that he is human. Because beforethen, he was always cold and calculating, never wanting to be involved in something unless it benefited him. And so for once, we get to see the part of him that shows his "humanity," so to speak, or his heart that would guide him in his actions.
I love how Monogatari is always showing us these important parts where the characters really have to step up to the plate.
People hate Sengoku Nadeko for being the antagonist, but it would be missing the point if we wanted to eliminate this essential element: that what happens is that individuals undergo things that push the limit of who they are and what they're capable of.
For Nadeko, it shows the side of humanity that's capable and susceptible to the kind of nihilism that would love to see the world suffer as a reflection of the suffering that happens within oneself.
The Senjou-Kaiki story explores that there are things worth fighting for.
That's contrast to the initial deadness of Kaiki's character. His amoral worldview is what's monotone... it's the portrayal of his kind of character that believes things have to be rooted in logic to be done. But this is challenged. And after some contemplation, he decides to help Senjougahara, and manages to go all the way in doing so.
He manages to manefist a very different part of him, but still a part of him that is all-too-him nonetheless. To show us that there are things we can care about, something worth fighting for... beyond logic... beyond the idea that this is simply a dog-eat-dog world where every con-man is only out for himself.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Kaiki's character be additionally fleshed out and in a way that was true to the character. He's still one of my favorite characters, although now from our updated view he seems to be a bit less cynical.
Posted by NealTenshio | Jun 23, 2022 5:31 PM | 1 comments
Favorite Character: Iskandar King of Conquerors aka Alexander the Great
Anime Relations: Fate/Zero, Fate/Zero 2nd Season
"A king without greed is even worse than a figurehead! Saber, you said you would become a martyr for your ideals. In life, you must have been a pure saint. A proud and noble figure, certainly. But who can truly admire the martyr's thorny path? Who dreams of such an ending?
You saved them, but you never led them. You never showed them what a king should be. You abandoned your men when they lost their way. Then, alone and untroubled, you followed your own petty little ideals."
This is a quote from a character "Alexander the Great" from Fate/Zero of the Rider class. And he is talking to one of the other characters: Saber. Saber is supposed to represent King Arthur, which if you don't know the story, is about the legend of the man who manages to pull a sword from the ground, a sword that nobody else could pull. In the anime, we have this as a female character called Saber. "Saber" is her class name.
And why is this dialogue enlightening? Because Saber aka King Arthur is a saint type character. Someone who is completely selfless, wants to protect the people of her country, not wanting them to fight, and only allowing herself to fight and be hurt. This is what we call a "martyr," someone who is willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good or for other people.
And this is what makes the Saber character so noble; that's why we liked her. But Rider aka Alexander the Great comes in and shoves our ideals in our faces, including Saber's. He says: No that's actually the wrong way to be a King. If you want to be a king, you have to be a leader. You have to inspire others to want to make progress with you. But in order to do that, you have to have some object, goal, desire. You have to have some greed, something you truly want. That is when people will look to you as you are someone striving for something. It will give them hope and inspiration, and they will want to follow you.
You saved them, but you never led them. You never showed them what a king should be. You abandoned your men when they lost their way. Then, alone and untroubled, you followed your own petty little ideals."
This is a quote from a character "Alexander the Great" from Fate/Zero of the Rider class. And he is talking to one of the other characters: Saber. Saber is supposed to represent King Arthur, which if you don't know the story, is about the legend of the man who manages to pull a sword from the ground, a sword that nobody else could pull. In the anime, we have this as a female character called Saber. "Saber" is her class name.
And why is this dialogue enlightening? Because Saber aka King Arthur is a saint type character. Someone who is completely selfless, wants to protect the people of her country, not wanting them to fight, and only allowing herself to fight and be hurt. This is what we call a "martyr," someone who is willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good or for other people.
And this is what makes the Saber character so noble; that's why we liked her. But Rider aka Alexander the Great comes in and shoves our ideals in our faces, including Saber's. He says: No that's actually the wrong way to be a King. If you want to be a king, you have to be a leader. You have to inspire others to want to make progress with you. But in order to do that, you have to have some object, goal, desire. You have to have some greed, something you truly want. That is when people will look to you as you are someone striving for something. It will give them hope and inspiration, and they will want to follow you.
Posted by NealTenshio | Jun 23, 2022 4:54 PM | 1 comments
December 26th, 2017
Moved by Art
Anime Relations: Hotarubi no Mori e, Harmonie
~ December 2017 ~
The quality of Art is not something that can really be explained. And I don't mean Art as in the visual aspect of an anime, I mean Art as in an element that has the ability to touch/move/reach into our personalities and perspectives. To change who we are or how we see. Art has that ability.
I've always been a person who attempted to judge the entertainment that I consumed in an objective-as-possible way. Of course, I let my enjoyment influence me too, but I tend to strip that down and ask myself: Is this realistic?
This is a fairly logical way to judge the things we watch. It's a significant part of how we may mainly judge anime. With some variance, you wouldn't appreciate an anime if it frequently pulled random things throughout the show. You'd be thinking to yourself, "that makes no sense." So realism is a significant part of what makes an anime credible and gives it a fundamental integrity. But there's also another aspect that I was never truly able to understand until now. And that integral element is Art.
I have found it dull to focus on the "whats" and not on the "hows" and "whys."
I think the two particular people who've had a great influence on my understanding of art, along with my understanding of the significance of fiction are:
a psychologist (popularly known on YouTube) by the name of Jordan Peterson, and an English professor I had from my community college.
I'm sure you've heard before that art is subjective, but that really doesn't tell you anything. What my college professor taught, as he was teaching the class how to read/percieve short stories, was that fictional stories have a potent influence that non-fiction stories cannot provide to us. Information can tell us: "This is what happens when you do this." However, being told things in a scientific manner can be mundane, and the message doesn't have the same impact as stories that show us things through events. The characters in fictional stories may not be real, but they are important in that they can show us what we should and shouldn't do. They may also allow us to understand ourselves or other people better. The characters can make the choices in their situations, not us, and we learn through that way. Fictional characters can inspire us and/or influence us... they can change the character of who we are. And it's especially impactful when you're able to empathize with the characters. That's when you really feel understood.
Art moves us. It takes us away from whatever static state that we might be in. It has the capability to change us. Good art puts you in the depths of its world. It will make you the center of its pains and joys... not making you think the characters are experiencing pain and joy, but making you feel that pain and joy.
Like they say... Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.
The quality of Art is not something that can really be explained. And I don't mean Art as in the visual aspect of an anime, I mean Art as in an element that has the ability to touch/move/reach into our personalities and perspectives. To change who we are or how we see. Art has that ability.
I've always been a person who attempted to judge the entertainment that I consumed in an objective-as-possible way. Of course, I let my enjoyment influence me too, but I tend to strip that down and ask myself: Is this realistic?
This is a fairly logical way to judge the things we watch. It's a significant part of how we may mainly judge anime. With some variance, you wouldn't appreciate an anime if it frequently pulled random things throughout the show. You'd be thinking to yourself, "that makes no sense." So realism is a significant part of what makes an anime credible and gives it a fundamental integrity. But there's also another aspect that I was never truly able to understand until now. And that integral element is Art.
I have found it dull to focus on the "whats" and not on the "hows" and "whys."
I think the two particular people who've had a great influence on my understanding of art, along with my understanding of the significance of fiction are:
a psychologist (popularly known on YouTube) by the name of Jordan Peterson, and an English professor I had from my community college.
I'm sure you've heard before that art is subjective, but that really doesn't tell you anything. What my college professor taught, as he was teaching the class how to read/percieve short stories, was that fictional stories have a potent influence that non-fiction stories cannot provide to us. Information can tell us: "This is what happens when you do this." However, being told things in a scientific manner can be mundane, and the message doesn't have the same impact as stories that show us things through events. The characters in fictional stories may not be real, but they are important in that they can show us what we should and shouldn't do. They may also allow us to understand ourselves or other people better. The characters can make the choices in their situations, not us, and we learn through that way. Fictional characters can inspire us and/or influence us... they can change the character of who we are. And it's especially impactful when you're able to empathize with the characters. That's when you really feel understood.
Art moves us. It takes us away from whatever static state that we might be in. It has the capability to change us. Good art puts you in the depths of its world. It will make you the center of its pains and joys... not making you think the characters are experiencing pain and joy, but making you feel that pain and joy.
Like they say... Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.
Posted by NealTenshio | Dec 26, 2017 3:30 PM | 0 comments
June 11th, 2017
Of Hayao Miyazaki's Films
Anime Relations: Mimi wo Sumaseba
~ June 2017 ~
Hayao Miyazaki's disenchantment towards modern anime lies on how the industry neglects realism within their characters. Rather, characters are only created based on people's biases on what perfect humans are. People fall in love with the majority of anime characters in a culture where humans can't stand looking at one another.
To gain a wiser view on how anime impacts those who watch it, one must consider not only the fantasy elements within an anime but more importantly pinpoint its relevance to reality. Creating anime out of a closed perspective that mainly relies on the fantasy that lives in one's mind.. wouldn't ever create a perspective that is meaningful about life.
For anime, the meaningful ones are the ones that aid in shaping our desire to live our lives rather than disillusioning us that life is something we should escape.
The stories with realistic characters (characters with their quirks and talents, yet also coupled with their flaws and shortcomings)... these stories connect people together. They help shape a person's perception towards other human beings. It lets us see what we haven't seen before. It lets us accept what he haven't accepted before.
I think such anime are the most important ones; they are what develops our willingness to accept and embrace others or understand more about the world that we live in.
Hayao Miyazaki's message in his films, is that humans should learn to co-exist with one another, in this world where everyone is flawed.
"Today, be tolerant of people’s mistakes and oversights.
Sometimes good people make bad choices.
It doesn't mean they’re bad; it simply means they are human."
Hayao Miyazaki's disenchantment towards modern anime lies on how the industry neglects realism within their characters. Rather, characters are only created based on people's biases on what perfect humans are. People fall in love with the majority of anime characters in a culture where humans can't stand looking at one another.
To gain a wiser view on how anime impacts those who watch it, one must consider not only the fantasy elements within an anime but more importantly pinpoint its relevance to reality. Creating anime out of a closed perspective that mainly relies on the fantasy that lives in one's mind.. wouldn't ever create a perspective that is meaningful about life.
For anime, the meaningful ones are the ones that aid in shaping our desire to live our lives rather than disillusioning us that life is something we should escape.
The stories with realistic characters (characters with their quirks and talents, yet also coupled with their flaws and shortcomings)... these stories connect people together. They help shape a person's perception towards other human beings. It lets us see what we haven't seen before. It lets us accept what he haven't accepted before.
I think such anime are the most important ones; they are what develops our willingness to accept and embrace others or understand more about the world that we live in.
Hayao Miyazaki's message in his films, is that humans should learn to co-exist with one another, in this world where everyone is flawed.
"Today, be tolerant of people’s mistakes and oversights.
Sometimes good people make bad choices.
It doesn't mean they’re bad; it simply means they are human."
Posted by NealTenshio | Jun 11, 2017 4:54 PM | 0 comments