| Copied, slightly modified pasta from two earlier threads. Yuunagi said: As some of you may or may not know, there's this club here at MAL known as Critics and Connoisseurs, and one of their main activities is nominating outstanding anime, manga, and characters which members believe are worth adding to the club relations. Each week, one anime series, one manga series, and one character is randomly chosen from the list of nominations to be featured for the "spotlight" for the members to share their opinions and discuss the pros and cons of each. After a week of being chosen for the spotlights, the members then decide by voting if these will be included in the club relations (there must be at least 3 "yes" votes for every 1 "no" vote for it to get in). At almost 30 nominations, the first season of Gunslinger has a relatively good chance of being featured for the spotlight, so I'd like to hear your thoughts about the series and what makes it outstanding. The point of this thread, then, is to give the members of the Gunslinger Girl club an opportunity to share their enthusiasm if/when the manga or the animated series is featured for the spotlight. If, by that time, you cannot personally join in those discussions, we could get your point across by quoting your review or posting a link to this thread. If you have trouble in expressing your own thoughts, feel free to quote other reviews (though please cite your sources). |
YuunagiDec 11, 2008 6:31 AM
Su said: Haha. I like how you put it. It does raise another issue though.BUT, it doesn't intentionally try to suck out the tears of the readers/viewers to attract that certain kind of audience. In several parts of this site I've brought up for discussion the role of female characters in fiction, specifically in anime and manga. It's common these days for girls to play parts which were once reserved mainly for guys (trigger-happy action figures such as Revy and Yoko, mechanics like Leite, lady killers like Paraietta, etc.) but some functions remain almost exclusive to women. Girls outnumber guys as main characters in slice of life series (Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star, Ichigo Mashimaro, Kamichu!, Aria, YKK, Hidamari Sketch, Minami-ke, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, etc.). Guys beating the shit out of girls is politically incorrect, but tsunderekko are considered "cute." Likewise, there are probably 20 or 30 girls for every guy who's considered as "moe." Which leads to this question: Is the use of prepubescent girls in Gunslinger Girl justified/feasible, or is the author simply taking advantage of a few tropes? Youth and femininity imply innocence and vulnerability so it's no wonder that the two seem to be exploited rather often in tragic stories (SaiKano, Air, Elfen Lied, Grave of the Fireflies, the bishoujo game Kana Imouto, etc.). Is Gunslinger Girl any different? Jean handwaves the issue of age by saying “The physical modification and brainwashing procedures apparently work better the younger they are,” while the bomb expert in episode 6 explains, ”Well, kids are most adorable at around this age…” but is there more to it than just that? I already have a few hypotheses in mind but I'd like to hear some of your thoughts before posting them. |
YuunagiApr 24, 2009 6:22 PM
| While the appeal of lolis to certain audiences cannot be denied, I'd like to believe that there are other reasons besides trying to charm the audience. So far, I've thought of 3 main points. 1) cognitive dissonance Their occupation (black ops, assassination, etc.) is not fitting for characters of their age and gender. This disturbing contrast highlights the moral dilemma of GsG's premise. 2) emphasis on control rather than power Of course, making prepubescent girls physically capable of annihilating terrorist groups is wrong in itself. However, far more disturbing is the fact that they're conditioned into following such orders. What they can do is not as important as what they are made to do. Besides serving as benefits/trade-offs for some girls (specif. Rico), the cybernetic implants for enhancing physical capabilities are there to aid in suspending disbelief. With the physical aspect taken care of, the story is able to focus more on the central issue which is the use of conditioning to influence their minds. Note that it's the mental deterioration rather than the damage to their bodies which is slowly killing them. By extension, these two lead to... 3) it won't work as well for boys From the SWA's perspective, boys would be (due to biological urges and/or social upbringing) rowdier and harder to control due to their penchant for more violent games. Also, girls are said to have higher priority for relationships so they might be more willing to follow instructions in order to please their respective handlers. For the audience, the cognitive dissonance would not be as great since it would be less surprising for boys to go berserk compared to girls. Also, boys are less likely to induce sympathy due to the different masculine ideals which are instilled in them and the audience (i.e. trying to be strong, tough, macho, etc.). |
YuunagiMar 9, 2009 6:03 AM
Yuunagi said: Which leads to this question: Is the use of prepubescent girls in Gunslinger Girl justified/feasible, or is the author simply taking advantage of a few tropes? I know I'm answering very late, but the answer is yes - to both. There's nothing wrong, with, say, using Rico's tragic cuteness to drum up some heartstring pulls when Jean mistreats her, or using Triela's admitted seductiveness and vulnerability to strengthen the bond she makes with the reader as she learns the truth from Hillshire. So yes, if it's used to build the character instead of making her into a moe, adolescent sex symbol (I'm looking at you, Witches No Pantsu), then yes it's justified. |
Yuunagi said: Which leads to this question: Is the use of prepubescent girls in Gunslinger Girl justified/feasible, or is the author simply taking advantage of a few tropes? I know I'm answering very late, but the answer is yes - to both. There's nothing wrong, with, say, using Rico's tragic cuteness to drum up some heartstring pulls when Jean mistreats her, or using Triela's admitted seductiveness and vulnerability to strengthen the bond she makes with the reader as she learns the truth from Hillshire. So yes, if it's used to build the character instead of making her into a moe, adolescent sex symbol (I'm looking at you, Witches No Pantsu), then yes it's justified. |
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