My brother and I just finished the last episode of Gakkou Gurashi (School Live). I don't really want to give away spoilers, but I will say that we loved this series. ^-^
I love how it left the viewer with a sense of hope. It was uplifting, unlike most zombie movies and series. I mean, The Walking Dead was always bleak, but with the 6th season, I just couldn't handle it anymore. And High School of the Dead was "hopeful" in terms of leaving the viewer with a sense of empowerment, even though they ended up without shelter or their car anymore. But School Live ended the same way, but felt so much more hopeful and positive. Definitely a series that won't make me feel worse for the rest of the day...which isn't something I can usually say about a zombie themed series. ^^; What is stupid, is that it took me all the way until last episode to figure out why Yuki's uniform was different from everyone else's. ~.~;;;;;;;;; She's one of those "scatter-brained" archetypes who forgets about the seasonal uniform change. She probably wore her school's summer uniform, when they were supposed to switch to the fall uniform. I think those green uniforms are for fall. They look autumn-like. Seeing this series after Dramatical Murder, I kept noticing the Nitro+ credit at the very end of each episode and wondering if this anime was based on a visual novel, or vice versa...? Well, my brother immediately went online and found a Gakkou Gurashi manga. By the condition of Miki’s patched eye, and their talk of a helicopter crash, the manga sounds much more harsh. o_O
Just saw this awesome story today on NHK World Newsline. The report is called “Home, at Last”, as reported by Taro Nagaoka for 10/27/2015. This sword’s story has so much Touken Ranbu potential. ^.^ (In terms of Touken Ranbu fandom spilling into general interest in swords, rising in Japan’s female population, it seems appropriate that one of the museum visitors interviewed was a woman. lol) Here’s a transcript of the report:
Reporter: "Swords that once were weapons in Japan are considered works of art today. Some have been designated national important cultural properties. But that sort of recognition also brings attention from opportunists. NHK World’s Taro Nagaoka reports about a stolen sword that only recently resurfaced.“
Nagaoka: "The sword has a name: Bishu-Osafuneju-Motoshige. It was made about 700 years ago, and is an important cultural property. The inscription says ‘mikaeri’, meaning ‘to turn back and look’. The sword was said to be so sharp, that you did not know it had cut you, until you turned around and fell down. People were able to see it in the safety of an exhibition in the city of Tsuruoka. The sword proved to be a big attraction.”
Female museum visitor: "The condition is terrific! It makes me speechless.“
Male museum visitor: "This is a real treasure for everyone in our city.”
Nagaoka: “The sword was owned by a descendant of the feudal lord of this area. But in 1986, someone stole it from the family storehouse. The thieves were caught, but the sword was lost. It had already been sold on the black market. Tadahisa Sakai is the director of the museum that held the recent exhibition. It was his father who owned the sword at the time of the theft. He says his father was heart-broken. The elder Sakai had written many poems about the stolen treasure.”
Poetry by elder Sakai: "Oh, stolen sword, do not turn rusty. I await the day you come back to me.“
Nagaoka: "His father passed away eleven years ago, without seeing the sword again. Last year, a…collector in Osaka told Mr. Sakai, someone was selling the object. Under…Law, the time limit for getting the property back had passed. The seller was not responsible for the theft, and buying it from him was beyond Mr. Sakai’s ability.”
Sakai: "The price was close to a million dollars. I have no way of coming up with money like that.”
Nagaoka: “A collector in Osaka came to the rescue. He purchased the sword and offered to lend it without charge, for exhibitions at Sakai’s museum.“
Sakai: "Finally, I was able to tell my father, that the Mikaeri Motoshige had returned. I can almost hear him say, ‘Thank goodness’.”
Nagaoka: “The day before the recent showing, Sakai polished the sword himself.”
Sakai: "I had given up on ever seeing it again. So I’m delighted that we are finally able to display it.“
Nagaoka: "On opening day, Sakai explained the origins of the sword and its more recent history.”
Sakai: "I hope people will have other opportunities to attend exhibitions [of] this sword and learn about Japan’s sword culture.“
Nagaoka: "After 30 years, the wandering sword finally found its way home. Sakai hopes to exhibit it every year to highlight a form of culture that cuts across the centuries. —Taro Nagaoka, NHK World, Yamagata.”
Comparing the S.H. Figuarts Man DX Set versus the Figma Archetype He and She, in terms of drawing models, is a little difficult without physically testing out their articulation, side by side, but I can try to compare what we can see from their official photos. (S.H. Figuarts Man DX figures in gray; Figma Archetype He and She figures in flesh tones.)
The female figures seem pretty much the same to me, except for the articulation at the toes, which are available in the S.H. Figuarts, but not the Figma Archetype. The S.H. Figuarts waistline has an actual seam delineating it at the natural waistline, while the Figma Archetype She dips the seam to allow the midriff to be a more continuous sculpt. (This may also allow for more leeway in articulation, but that's just speculation.) The hip joint sockets for the legs are also a little more visible in the S.H. Figuarts, than the Figma. The torso seam on both S.H. Figuarts are much lower and allowed to be visible, while the Figma Archetypes try to hide the seam under the bustline. But without physically comparing their articulation in person, the female figures seem very much the same. And without comparing those differences, I have no problem skipping the female S.H. Figuarts, since I'm already getting the Figma Archetype She. (Except for my collector-minded completionist tendencies. @_@ ) So, unless there is a big difference in actual articulation, or if a collector/artist is swayed by that toe articulation, then a collector/artist can probably just get one female figure, without also buying the other.
Now the male figures, on the other hand, are much more drastically different. I was always annoyed with the look of the bustline seam on the Figma Archetype He, while the S.H. Figuarts Man's chest is much more aesthetically pleasing. But is it better for sketching as a model? That may depend solely on each artist/collector's preference. The Figma's pectorals seem more pronounced, while the S.H. Figuarts' pectorals seem flatter. But while I have an aesthetic preference for the S.H. Figuarts's chest piece, its hip area is a little awkward. The hips' joints with the legs are extremely pronounced, and while all the extra seams clutter the hips, it could enable superior articulation, for all I know. But strangely, the S.H. Figuarts' feet (for both genders) are sculpted like the figures are wearing shoes, even though the rest of their bodies are sculpts of bare muscles. The Figma Archetypes (for both genders), on the other hand, include feet sculpted as if they were bare. I already pre-ordered both Figma Archetype figures, so now it’s just a matter of convincing myself to buy or not buy the S.H. Figuarts. Maybe if Bluefin Tamashii Nations had such a convenient international official online store, like Good Smile Company, I would have already pre-ordered these S.H. Figuarts. But I’m kind of glad it wasn’t that easy to order, because I really should save my money. Especially since I’ve already pre-ordered extremely similar figures in the Figma Archetypes. But in all honesty, I prefer the male S.H. Figuarts and the completionist figure collector in me can't just leave that female S.H. Figuarts as the only one I leave out of my collection. So even though I am considering also pre-ordering the upcoming Figma Archetype Next He and She, I will probably pick up the S.H. Figuarts Man DX Set if I should see it. ^^; Picture sources: https://www.facebook.com/Tamashii.USA/timeline/story?ut=43&wstart=0&wend=1446361199&hash=-389610718224917035&pagefilter=3 http://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/5177/figma+archetype+she+flesh+color+ver.html http://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/5176/figma+archetype+he+flesh+color+ver.html
Recently, I had to sell at Anime California 2015's artist alley without proper business cards, because my new cards wouldn't be delivered until after the con. So I had to stamp my artist alley website onto the back of my older business cards, which had obsolete information, including this blog Timid Otaku.
If you have one of these make-shift business cards of mine, please know that this blog is just barely breathing. It's hardly ever updated, and even when it is, it usually has nothing to do with artist alley, what I'm selling, my fan-crafts, or ideas for future products and conventions. For that actual information, please visit my real artist alley blog at mysticdragon3.tumblr.com
This blog Timid Otaku is just about my random fandom rants. Especially the ones a little too long-winded for Tumblr. Or about sensitive topics, that Tumblr would make too public. I want to express myself for cathartic reasons, but Blogger/Blogspot is a little safer because it gets less traffic. And I don't really want to use Tumblr to so publicly post sensitive topics, because that's just bait for trolls or aggressively argumentative people, which I may not be in the mood to handle. In fact, my posts on this blog are sometimes so stream-of-consciousness styled that I don't think I really expressed what I was really thinking/feeling in some of my more convoluted posts. In fact, pretty much all my posts _are_ my process, a progression of my thoughts, which I often don't settle on until the conclusion of the post. It can be a little confusing, and sometimes I feel like people post comments reacting to the feelings I had at the _beginning_ of a post, rather than the conclusions I come to at the end of that process. @_@;
Watching MTV Braless's episode about "What is the Female Gaze?". https://youtu.be/FdHJG67xmsQ
Well, now I know what to call anime's fanservice shots: "The Male Gaze". Apparently, it's a term from the 1970's, when Feminists pointed out that camera shots/angles framed and emphasized female characters as sex objects, even outside of sexual contexts/scenes. In other words, for no reason. Maybe I've become desensitized to it, but by now when I see it in anime I just find it funny.
What's even more funny, is to see the Female Gaze at work in Free Iwatobi Swim Club. While Laci Green from Braless discusses the second Magic Mike movie, I was reminded of the same issues brought up by watching Free. Yes, the camera angles objectify the characters as sex objects, in non-sexual contexts. But we find that hilarious! Why? Because after decades of watching the same camera angles used to close-up girls' butts, go up skirts, flash panties, and close up boobs for no reason (not to mention, all the situational fanservice, like "oops, I landed on your boobs/lips!" or "why are you wearing less clothes for no reason?"), seeing the same camera angles superimposed onto male characters is hilarious. But only because of the previously established context of anime's prevalent fanservice.
Actually, a lot of anime comedies rely on referencing genre/medium cliches. Look at Excel Saga and Ouran High School Host Club: Half the comedy is dependent on previous familiarity with anime/manga conventions, and the contrast of those series contradicting or playing with those anime expectations.
For now, it's funny. Within the context of our current day, when women's sexual urges are not discussed or acknowledged, and when most anime flagrantly flaunts the "Male Gaze" as fanservice, seeing the tables turned is unexpected and funny. But still, throwing more people into the same mire that females are trapped in, in and of itself, isn't really progress. Objectifying guys just because girls are objectified just equalizes the suffering, rather than pulling people out of it or making it disappear. I look forward to future generations who will grow up with less of our current generations' contexts and simply see objectification as hurtful for anyone, without first considering gender.
Yet, while I say that, I do have to admit that I am from this current generation. I grew up in this context. And I do see Free's flip of the fanservice "Gaze" turned on male characters, as hilarious. I enjoy it. And I do see the significance of movies like Magic Mike and 50 Shades of Grey, in breaking this unspoken myth that women don't have sex drives. Admitting that my generation's perspectives and media are ingrained into me, is just part of me being part of my generation and of being human.
And besides, within today's contexts of my current generation, this "table turning" may be exactly what we need towards equality. For example, the past's male-hating version of Feminism was appropriate to combat the more fiercely pronounced machismo, during the 1980's. But by now, such a type of Feminism is called-out for promoting inequality, through its degradation of men, just to even out degradation of women. Again, what the past times (of the 1980's) needed, has now become obsolete. And one day, our table-turning will be called-out...while we cry proud tears for how much more enlightened than us, our little babies grew up to be. (Actually, I do that now, over an episode of Kids React that I saw.) As folklore studies often point out, the tyrant kings of one story, used to be the heroes of their previous stories. From Lucas to Edison, the methods they used to successfully combat the "tyrant kings" of their own times/fields and become Heroes, turned them into "tyrant kings" when their methods persisted into the next generations, which found such methods obsolete.
But for now, I'm going to enjoy Free. And I'm going to take back what I said to my cousin about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde being very difficult to make into a relevant movie today because "modern day society doesn't have the same societal repressions that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was representative of". Because apparently, we still have a Victorian Era view of women's sexuality, if we're only just now getting big production movies like Magic Mike and 50 Shades of Grey. Apparently, we still need big portrayals of what's repressed, to shock society out of repressing it. But once that's solved and accepted, our kids will probably look back and call us out on being too shocking. LOL
The other day, I used a photo of my room to make a "girl version" of a meme comparing a sports memorabilia room against an otaku room. In my version, I used a collage of fashionista collections, like shoes, nailpolish, purses, and jewelry. But I wonder what makes my room a _female_ otaku room? (Other than the fact that it's my room and I'm a female.)
If I go by fan-art of female otaku in their rooms, then I'd have to assume that having lots of plushies is a girl thing. Then a Tumblr search happened to put the original meme beside my "female" version. Comparing the original meme's otaku room vs mine, I'd have to say that the biggest difference are the images on the flat screens. The original has some beautiful shoujo on the screen; I've got Sengoku Basara's lead samurai paused on my screen. The most visible poster in the original's room is of a female character, while 2 of the 4 posters/prints that are visible in my room's photo are of couples (the other 2 being a lone girl, and a pair of guys).
I wonder if I'm worthlessly pursuing a gender stereotype? I mean, there are so many different individual tastes across the genders, that technically, any otaku room could look like anything, with no discernible gender of the owner. But as a photo to represent a "girl's otaku room", in order to contrast a "girly girl's fashionista room", I feel like maybe I'm not working hard enough to find a photo that represents the otaku version of a "Mundane fashionista's room". I mean, I was trying to do a "female version" of the original meme.
But then again, that emphasis on a division of gender was based on the fact that the sports memorabilia room, from the original meme, brings to mind "masculine" connotations. It was very easy to think of a female version of such a "hyper masculine" room motif as sports memorabilia. Because Mundane girls hoard such "hyper feminine" collections as make-up, accessories, and clothes. Perhaps it's those extreme levels of delineated, "traditional", gender connotations often found in the Mundane world, which mislead me to believe an otaku comparison photo needed to be equally extreme in its gender connotations.
It makes me even more proud to be an otaku, now realizing that we blurr "traditional" gender lines. While it's true that a female Mundane can have a sports memorabilia room and a male Mundane can have multiple fashionista collections, it's a little sad that those collections in and of themselves, are so immediately attributed to one gender or another. But otaku rooms/collections, on the other hand, have so much variety, overlap, and---quite frankly---less societal pressure towards extreme gender definitions, that there are no definitive reference markers to identify an otaku room as female or male.
I keep hearing that Kamen Rider W fans were upset that Philip returned from the dead. I never understood why. Just now, I read a post that the reason Philip's return was upsetting was that it negated Shotaro's character growth, the maturity he was able to achieve by being able to move forward, even with Philip gone.
But I think that the growth Shotaro had during that time without Philip, was enough to prove that Shotaro is now capable of being independent. The fact that he can now be this more mature version of himself (though still hidden under his usual ridiculousness), I think makes him an even stronger partner, when reunited with Philip. Now, neither one is not so much leaning on the other, as much as each partner is able to strengthen the other.
"Okay"? Gee, wonder what happened to "Philip, I need you to henshin right now!".
Perhaps that's the reason that Kamen Rider Joker's appearances from then on (in later movies) becomes a common and natural occurrence. It's no longer a big deal that Shotaro can henshin on his own. He's independent. It's only natural that he's capable of fighting without Philip. But again, when they fight together, they become stronger. Which is exactly what they do at all the ending battles in their movie appearances. Them fighting together doesn't make them weaker or Shotaro less capable.
Just look at Shotaro's wardrobe in the Showa vs Heisei movie: He dresses almost exactly like Narumi Sokichi. I think the series producers were trying to concretely reflect that Shotaro has finally become just as capable and independent as his old mentor...Though Shotaro did hit himself in the head AND the shin immediately after appearing on screen, just to prove he's still our lovable Shotaro. As Tsukasa jabbed, Shotaro is still "half-boiled". Though, if Shotaro's silly streak is reflective of his kind-heartedness, which the Kamen Rider W series often correlated, then that simply means that Shotaro hasn't lost that aspect of himself which the series repeatedly advocated as Shotaro's real Strength. With his kind heart combined with the boss's capable "hard-boiledness", Shotaro by the end of W may be even Stronger than the boss. ...Even if that Strength could be properly called "half-boiled". LOL
In this scene from the "A to Z Gaia Memories of Fate" movie, everyone in the city was cheering for W.
(AKA: Everyone’s spirits fighting along side them.)
And as for Xtreme Memory saving Shotaro in the last episode of W, maybe it does negate his independence (though not his capability), but I'm not surprised by a Japanese show _emphasizing_ themes of the necessity of cooperation, over independent capability (even if it is there). How many Japanese shows revisit the theme "everyone has to work together" or uses the line "no human can ever really accomplish anything alone"? Even anime with solitary protagonists spend their entire series, bringing them to the realization that it's okay to rely on other people. Usually using the line, "Don't do everything by yourself all the time" or "You don't have to do everything yourself anymore". (Example: Natsume Yuujinchou, Madoka Magica.) Almost every anime with an ensemble group, doesn't allow the main hero to defeat the villain without everyone in the group working together (even if just in spirit). From Yu Yu Hakusho to Sailormoon. The entire Super Sentai series is centered around that theme, and it's still on the air. The group ideal is a very Japanese thing. Personally, I think it's culturally impossible to just let Shotaro evolve into the "lone wolf" type of detective cliche that's common in the West. Especially for a Japanese kid's show, Shotaro has to work again with Philip, though not to depend on him as before, but to now be his true partner, that can stand on his own, and thus make Philip and himself stronger, when they work together.
