And it has inspired some spurious thoughts for me to comment on.
So for the first act of the film it felt like they were kind of handling things very similarly to Man of Steel, and I was predicting in my head that it'll be received differently because it has a brighter color pallet and more traditional musical score. But by the end it distinguished itself from MOS in a much more substantive way.
The first main props to give this film is it playing up the Superman as an Immigrant allegory far more explicitly then any prior superman movie. I'm noting that here but talking about that aspect of the film in-depth is better suited for someone who's actually had an immigrant experience.
Batman V Superman I still feel was touching on that in a more substantive way then any prior Live Action movie, but it's also wrapped up in Snyder's other themes and Batman being the one made into a Xenophobic Bigot is something too many fans didn't wanna deal with. I of course feel making an icon like Batman the one who has to overcome being wrong in that area is more challenging to the audience, but I'm someone who feels after all the attention DKR gets that it's only fair Batman become the villain of a Superman story for a change.
The final resolution of this film is almost a case study in why perhaps Superman is better suited for Anime then Batman. Batman has gotten two shots at an Anime because, A. DC gives Batman more attention at everything, and B. I imagine everyone working at DC still stereotypes Anime as edgy 90s OVAs.
The main thing that I think would be different if this film had been done by an Anime studio with Anime writers is that even Rudy wouldn't have had to die, which is what I'd have preferred. But I imagine most negative reviews of this film (if they exist at all) will focus on how much of a cop-out it is that J'onn and Lobo both have fake out deaths.
I don't think anything gives more of a misrepresentation of my overall tastes then how often I feel compelled to defend things I'm not really a super fan of for getting hate they don't deserve. For example I defended Twilight on IMDB when my preferred taste in YA Vampire Melodrama was The Vampire Diaries (the first four books and the first two season of the CW TV Show are very different but both very good) for example.
But lately of course I kinda hate how some people's main experience with me may be seeing Tweets and YouTube comments where I defend Zach Snyder. Because the stereotype of a Zach Snyder fanboy is some edgy hipster who looks down on Superhero movies where the Hero saves a kitten from a tree and has empathy for the villains they fight. And yet I've spent most of the last month watching Sailor Moon content and Raildex Anime.
Even when it comes to my status as a defender of Hollywood blockbusters that get crapped on I'd rather the face of it be Speed Racer, Super Mario Bros, The Phantom Menace or more recently Sonic and the sequels to Frozen and Maleficent. I mainly love optimistic feel good movies.
Heck going back to The Vampire Diaries my main criticism of the show's early seasons was that they kept killing people off, like every three episodes. And what made me finally drop the show was when they started literally sending characters to Hell.
Fact is I haven't even watched any of the Zach Snyder movies I'm nominally a fan of in over a year. In fact you may notice I can't even consistently spell his name right. Lately my Zach Snyder experience has mainly been watching YouTube videos about his movies.
And of course my taste in Superman in general is much closer to this animated movie then to Man of Steel or BvS. But Superman is an Icon and a flexible one, I can respect taking him in a direction I wouldn't.
And to prove there is a limit to how much Edginess I can tolerate even for Batman. The work of the other Snyder who's famously written for Batman I absolutely despise, and yes that even includes the stuff most people seem to like.
Sometimes it seems like the problem is the internet has gotten so polarized between "Dark and Edgy" vs "uplifting and optimistic" that I guess some people can't wrap their head around appreciating both. But then people who hate on Snyder's movies will praise Logan and The Last Jedi. I guess it's easy to claim those films are less unrelentingly dark because it's harder to pretend they don't have funny haha moments. But to me Logan is the Superhero movie that flat out crosses the line into being too pessimistic to ever be appropriate for that franchise in ways DC has only ever done in the actual Comics. And the other one I don't want to get into again.
I've watched a couple mind-numbing Zack Snyder video essays where when I'm not going "no the film is literally saying the opposite" I'm instead going, "Western Superhero Comics are simply not compatible with your preferences, watch Anime instead". Of course recommending Anime can be hard, because sometimes the ones that are the least "Dark" are also the most "fanservciy". I wanna recommend No Game No Life but these SJWs will not be able to get past the amount of screen time given to the 11 year old girl's panties. I wanna recommend Railgun but then we have certain quirks of Kuroko and Saten, and then Index flat out doesn't relent. I wanna recommend a Magical Girl show but.... well the actual Shoujo ones should be fine but there aren't many of them I give a 10 out of 10.
If I tried hard enough I could think of plenty of fan service free recommendations. But I'm realizing that in every area my favorite stories are the ones who's great qualities overcome the aspects I generally don't prefer, rather then ones that are exactly like what I would write since those really don't exist, not till I get off my lazy @$$ and write something myself, and mostly the stuff that does seem close to that is what actually makes me go "I'd do that better" which is the kind of critic I'd rather not be.
And that's why I have to still consider Man of Steel a better Superman origin story then Man of Tomorrow even though the latter is in premise more like my Superman. Man of Steel has the advantage of an actual feature length to flesh itself out, and even regardless of that simply is more expertly written and directed. Still this movie is good and I recommend it for everyone who's a fan of Superman.
Monday, August 31, 2020
Friday, August 21, 2020
Anime 2020 August 21
Follow my Anime viewing in real time at these links..
https://myanimelist.net/profile/JaredMithrandir
https://twitter.com/JaredMithrandir
Also here is the introductory post for this series.
https://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2020/01/anime-2020.html
I could not even finish the first episode of Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time. I theoretically could love a show with this premise or else I wouldn’t have even tried, but this execution is not my thing.
I assumed Monster Girl Doctor would be about a Monster Girl who’s a doctor, I should have known better.
I decided to re-watch the first half of Railgun T while I have nothing else new coming out, it’s holding up great.
https://twitter.com/JaredMithrandir/status/1295202312516927494
Back to the present of Railgun. In my post on The Wolverine I ranted briefly on how I don’t like predicting the future being presented as a scientific rather than magical ability. Maybe it’s a silly distinction to make, Magick or Science really shouldn’t change it’s Determinist philosophical implication. But when it’s Magick I more easily accept that the rules for how changeable the future is will inevitably be flexible to serve the interest of the plot.
Maybe it’s then inconsistent that Time Travel is something I only like seeing done in SciFi and hate seeing thrown into Fantasy. Maybe delving into Time is just so problematic that I’m only really into it when they do something really interesting, and these biases are just based on what Genres I currently think have handled them less badly. I like how Your Name dealt with the Grandfather Paradox by just having people not remember doing the time travel related activities they engaged in.
https://myanimelist.net/profile/JaredMithrandir
https://twitter.com/JaredMithrandir
Also here is the introductory post for this series.
https://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2020/01/anime-2020.html
I could not even finish the first episode of Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time. I theoretically could love a show with this premise or else I wouldn’t have even tried, but this execution is not my thing.
I assumed Monster Girl Doctor would be about a Monster Girl who’s a doctor, I should have known better.
I decided to re-watch the first half of Railgun T while I have nothing else new coming out, it’s holding up great.
https://twitter.com/JaredMithrandir/status/1295202312516927494
Back to the present of Railgun. In my post on The Wolverine I ranted briefly on how I don’t like predicting the future being presented as a scientific rather than magical ability. Maybe it’s a silly distinction to make, Magick or Science really shouldn’t change it’s Determinist philosophical implication. But when it’s Magick I more easily accept that the rules for how changeable the future is will inevitably be flexible to serve the interest of the plot.
Maybe it’s then inconsistent that Time Travel is something I only like seeing done in SciFi and hate seeing thrown into Fantasy. Maybe delving into Time is just so problematic that I’m only really into it when they do something really interesting, and these biases are just based on what Genres I currently think have handled them less badly. I like how Your Name dealt with the Grandfather Paradox by just having people not remember doing the time travel related activities they engaged in.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
"There's not gonna be any fireworks"
For 8 years I have held the position that The Dark Knight Rises is a great stand alone film but a crappy sequel to Nolan's first two Batman movies. But that latter criticism was always expressed as merely nerdy whining that it contradicted what I felt The Dark Knight was saying was gonna happen next after the credits rolled.
However I have come to terms with having a deeper ideological issue with TDKR even as a stand alone film, that has also shown how it's in my eyes incongruity with Nolan's prior Batman films had more substance then I originally thought.
The Dark Knight Rises becoming it's endgame made the Nolanverse quite possibly the most Pro-Cop and Anti-Anarchist interpretation of Batman ever. And perhaps that was always where it was destined to go, Batman Begins has all this Police Corruption stuff taken from Year One and The Long Halloween, but it was kind of always implying this is unique to Gotham and why Gotham uniquely needs The Batman. And then TDK had the sonar plot that I've grown more conflicted on how it was handled. But still the first two movies can be authorial intent or not read as pretty Anarchistic and here's why.
One of the problems with Ledger's Joker being called an "Anarchist" is that his view of Human nature is one actual philosophical Anarchists reject, when he says "when the chips are down, these civilized people, will eat each other" he is expressing a Hobbesian view of Human nature. Watch the Jack Saint video on Post Apocalyptic fiction for a primer on what that term means.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwVN95XfOPM
BTW in this movie, of the scenes where The Joker is at least seemingly explaining his world view and motivations, what he says to Batman is where I think he's most honest, Batman is who he sees himself as making this argument with. He lies to Batman about a basic statement of fact by switching Dent and Rachel's locations, but not about his goals and philosophy. What he said to Dent was I think partly honest but also designed to "push" Dent where he wanted.
At the climax of the movie comes the scene which provides the title of this post, where all of the sudden Batman of all people is the DC character who sounds like an Anime protagonist expressing faith in the innate goodness of humanity. And he is proven right and The Joker is proven wrong just like in The Killing Joke.
However there is a frequent take that the fall of Harvey Dent means The Joker did win, which is how The Joker saw it, he wanted us to think he already had Batman in a no wins scenario. But from an Anarchist perspective what does that actually prove? The one person corruptible enough for him to corrupt was an agent of the state, Gotham's second highest ranked politician. And he needed to vindicate Dent's distrust of two corrupt cops to do it. Even The Joker's victory vindicates actual Anarchism more then it does Hobbesianism.
But then comes The Dark Knight Rises with it's Tale of Two Cities inspired plot, Bane's plan is a Statist's perception of Anarchism much more so then The Joker's was. And thus this film suddenly is vindicating a Hobbesian view of the unwashed masses while glorifying The Police with a heroic last stand.
However let's return to the Sonar plot of The Dark Knight. The common cynical reading of the film is that it's saying this was okay in this extreme circumstance since it did work. First of all I think arguing an authoritarian measure shouldn't be done because it doesn't work is the cheap cop out. You can argue all day long that the death penalty isn't a good deterrent and torture doesn't get people to tell the truth and I would not consider you wrong, but I also feel those methods are inherently amoral even if they did work.
The Sonar did work for Batman at first, but it also glitched out and caused him to lose the actual physical fight with The Joker. The fact is the people on those ferries are who actually defeated The Joker and not just ideologically, since The Joker probably wouldn't have been so caught off guard by that glove trick if he hadn't been frustrated by there being no fireworks.
And while the Sonar worked for finding The Joker was it really necessary? Fact is he wasn't particularity hiding at that point, once the Ferry situation started places overlooking them would naturally be the first place to look.
The one thing that was always going to need to be a part of the third Nolan Bat-Film was for the truth about Harvey Dent to come out and for Gotham to move past it's idealization of a fallen idol. However everything surrounding what TDKR did with that undermined what the prior two films had built.
However I have come to terms with having a deeper ideological issue with TDKR even as a stand alone film, that has also shown how it's in my eyes incongruity with Nolan's prior Batman films had more substance then I originally thought.
The Dark Knight Rises becoming it's endgame made the Nolanverse quite possibly the most Pro-Cop and Anti-Anarchist interpretation of Batman ever. And perhaps that was always where it was destined to go, Batman Begins has all this Police Corruption stuff taken from Year One and The Long Halloween, but it was kind of always implying this is unique to Gotham and why Gotham uniquely needs The Batman. And then TDK had the sonar plot that I've grown more conflicted on how it was handled. But still the first two movies can be authorial intent or not read as pretty Anarchistic and here's why.
One of the problems with Ledger's Joker being called an "Anarchist" is that his view of Human nature is one actual philosophical Anarchists reject, when he says "when the chips are down, these civilized people, will eat each other" he is expressing a Hobbesian view of Human nature. Watch the Jack Saint video on Post Apocalyptic fiction for a primer on what that term means.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwVN95XfOPM
BTW in this movie, of the scenes where The Joker is at least seemingly explaining his world view and motivations, what he says to Batman is where I think he's most honest, Batman is who he sees himself as making this argument with. He lies to Batman about a basic statement of fact by switching Dent and Rachel's locations, but not about his goals and philosophy. What he said to Dent was I think partly honest but also designed to "push" Dent where he wanted.
At the climax of the movie comes the scene which provides the title of this post, where all of the sudden Batman of all people is the DC character who sounds like an Anime protagonist expressing faith in the innate goodness of humanity. And he is proven right and The Joker is proven wrong just like in The Killing Joke.
However there is a frequent take that the fall of Harvey Dent means The Joker did win, which is how The Joker saw it, he wanted us to think he already had Batman in a no wins scenario. But from an Anarchist perspective what does that actually prove? The one person corruptible enough for him to corrupt was an agent of the state, Gotham's second highest ranked politician. And he needed to vindicate Dent's distrust of two corrupt cops to do it. Even The Joker's victory vindicates actual Anarchism more then it does Hobbesianism.
But then comes The Dark Knight Rises with it's Tale of Two Cities inspired plot, Bane's plan is a Statist's perception of Anarchism much more so then The Joker's was. And thus this film suddenly is vindicating a Hobbesian view of the unwashed masses while glorifying The Police with a heroic last stand.
However let's return to the Sonar plot of The Dark Knight. The common cynical reading of the film is that it's saying this was okay in this extreme circumstance since it did work. First of all I think arguing an authoritarian measure shouldn't be done because it doesn't work is the cheap cop out. You can argue all day long that the death penalty isn't a good deterrent and torture doesn't get people to tell the truth and I would not consider you wrong, but I also feel those methods are inherently amoral even if they did work.
The Sonar did work for Batman at first, but it also glitched out and caused him to lose the actual physical fight with The Joker. The fact is the people on those ferries are who actually defeated The Joker and not just ideologically, since The Joker probably wouldn't have been so caught off guard by that glove trick if he hadn't been frustrated by there being no fireworks.
And while the Sonar worked for finding The Joker was it really necessary? Fact is he wasn't particularity hiding at that point, once the Ferry situation started places overlooking them would naturally be the first place to look.
The one thing that was always going to need to be a part of the third Nolan Bat-Film was for the truth about Harvey Dent to come out and for Gotham to move past it's idealization of a fallen idol. However everything surrounding what TDKR did with that undermined what the prior two films had built.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Another post on Watch Orders
Debating about unconventional watch orders has become a hot topic again lately. Watching something in its release order is never inherently a bad order but there are plenty of cases where I feel it’s not the best.
For an example of a case where I do favor the release order even though a dispute kind of does exist, The Chronicles of Narnia books should be read in the order Lewis wrote them. A Horse and His Boy does stand on its own in a way none of the others but the first do, so it can perhaps be read a little out of sequence and maybe if you're into stuff with a 1001 Night flavor it would benefit you to read it second, but definitely start with Wardrobe and save Last Battle for last. In Anime terms AHaHB can perhaps be considered a Gaiden rather than part of the main saga.
For Star Wars I strongly feel Episodes I-VI should be watched in chronological order, and then the rest I really don’t care about as long as you see nothing before finishing the 6 George Lucas movies. I actually think it would be hilarious to have someone watch the Disney Sequel Trilogy backwards and see what perspective that causes.
For the Raildex franchise I shall offer an incomplete recommended viewing order, incomplete since Railgun season 3 is still airing. This is neither the release order or chronological order strictly speaking.
A Certain Scientific Railgun season 1 (skip episode 2 on the initial viewing but besides that all of it)
A Certain Magical Index season 1 (all of it if you can but if you don’t like it the rest of Railgun can stand on its own.)
A Certain Scientific Railgun S
A Certain Scientific Accelerator (currently has only one 12 episode season)
A Certain Magical Index II (the first 7 episodes)
A Certain Magical Index The Movie: The Miracle of The Endymion
A Certain Scientific Railgun T (First episode)
A Certain Magical Index II (episode 8)
For an example of a case where I do favor the release order even though a dispute kind of does exist, The Chronicles of Narnia books should be read in the order Lewis wrote them. A Horse and His Boy does stand on its own in a way none of the others but the first do, so it can perhaps be read a little out of sequence and maybe if you're into stuff with a 1001 Night flavor it would benefit you to read it second, but definitely start with Wardrobe and save Last Battle for last. In Anime terms AHaHB can perhaps be considered a Gaiden rather than part of the main saga.
For Star Wars I strongly feel Episodes I-VI should be watched in chronological order, and then the rest I really don’t care about as long as you see nothing before finishing the 6 George Lucas movies. I actually think it would be hilarious to have someone watch the Disney Sequel Trilogy backwards and see what perspective that causes.
For the Raildex franchise I shall offer an incomplete recommended viewing order, incomplete since Railgun season 3 is still airing. This is neither the release order or chronological order strictly speaking.
A Certain Scientific Railgun season 1 (skip episode 2 on the initial viewing but besides that all of it)
A Certain Magical Index season 1 (all of it if you can but if you don’t like it the rest of Railgun can stand on its own.)
A Certain Scientific Railgun S
A Certain Scientific Accelerator (currently has only one 12 episode season)
A Certain Magical Index II (the first 7 episodes)
A Certain Magical Index The Movie: The Miracle of The Endymion
A Certain Scientific Railgun T (First episode)
A Certain Magical Index II (episode 8)
A Certain Scientific Railgun T (Episodes 2-3)
A Certain Magical Index II (Episodes 9-13 the Daihasei festival arc)
A Certain Scientific Railgun T (episodes 4-15)
A Certain Scientific Railgun T (episodes 4-15)
[Update: I've decided you should finish IndexII before seeing the rest of Railgun T]
The Blackcoats novels (English name of the French Les Habits Noirs) were published by BlackCoatPress in a different order then Paul Feval originally wrote them. Nonetheless in the afterward of the last one they published both the translator and editor expressed the opinion that the books should ideally be read in Feval’s order. I’m not sure I agree, but it’s complicated.
For the way my brain works Salem Street was the ideal first impression and The Invisible Weapon a great second. But Salem Street has an element most modern readers will likely be put off by, (but I know of some specific people who’d love it). They all stand on their own pretty well, but the actual first book is the longest of them and so perhaps a little overwhelming for someone new to reading 19th Century pulpy French Novels no one considered worth translating into English till over a hundred years after the author died. The Invisible Weapon is in my opinion the absolute best of them and so I see no reason not to simply start with it. Cadet Gang should be saved for last only because I kind of don’t recommend reading it at all.
My doing this post now was partly because of a recent Mother’s Basement video. I have currently no direct knowledge of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, but I know Part 6 is the first female Jojo so I’ve been intending for a while to start with it when the Anime comes, I don’t care how confusing it will be.
I’ve saved Fate/ for last because that is the most contentious topic. I am a firm start with Fate/Zero person.
A lot of people will claim it’s only the convoluted nature of how Fate/ has been adapted that makes there be any dispute at all and if only more people would just read the Visual Novel it’d be fine. However I disagree, even if you are willing and able to consume each Fate/ story in it’s original medium first, I still say read Fate/Zero first. But I mostly just recommend watching the Anime, translations of Light Novels and Visual Novels suck, but the Aniplex Dub of the UFOtable Anime is perfect.
Fate/Zero simply is by nature the most accessible. Every person who would like Fate/Stay Night but not Fate/Zero is already into Fate/, they don’t need to be talked into giving it a chance. There are lots of people for whom Fate/Zero is the only Fate/ they would enjoy. And I think there are other potential Fate/Zero fans who’d enjoy Fate/Apocrypha before anything else.
The Blackcoats novels (English name of the French Les Habits Noirs) were published by BlackCoatPress in a different order then Paul Feval originally wrote them. Nonetheless in the afterward of the last one they published both the translator and editor expressed the opinion that the books should ideally be read in Feval’s order. I’m not sure I agree, but it’s complicated.
For the way my brain works Salem Street was the ideal first impression and The Invisible Weapon a great second. But Salem Street has an element most modern readers will likely be put off by, (but I know of some specific people who’d love it). They all stand on their own pretty well, but the actual first book is the longest of them and so perhaps a little overwhelming for someone new to reading 19th Century pulpy French Novels no one considered worth translating into English till over a hundred years after the author died. The Invisible Weapon is in my opinion the absolute best of them and so I see no reason not to simply start with it. Cadet Gang should be saved for last only because I kind of don’t recommend reading it at all.
My doing this post now was partly because of a recent Mother’s Basement video. I have currently no direct knowledge of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, but I know Part 6 is the first female Jojo so I’ve been intending for a while to start with it when the Anime comes, I don’t care how confusing it will be.
I’ve saved Fate/ for last because that is the most contentious topic. I am a firm start with Fate/Zero person.
A lot of people will claim it’s only the convoluted nature of how Fate/ has been adapted that makes there be any dispute at all and if only more people would just read the Visual Novel it’d be fine. However I disagree, even if you are willing and able to consume each Fate/ story in it’s original medium first, I still say read Fate/Zero first. But I mostly just recommend watching the Anime, translations of Light Novels and Visual Novels suck, but the Aniplex Dub of the UFOtable Anime is perfect.
Fate/Zero simply is by nature the most accessible. Every person who would like Fate/Stay Night but not Fate/Zero is already into Fate/, they don’t need to be talked into giving it a chance. There are lots of people for whom Fate/Zero is the only Fate/ they would enjoy. And I think there are other potential Fate/Zero fans who’d enjoy Fate/Apocrypha before anything else.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Livewire is an unfortunate relic of the pre-Pokemon world
Livewire is an electricity based DC Comics Superman villain who debuted as part of the DCAU in an episode of Superman The Animated Series that first aired on September 13th 1997.
It is a well known scientific fact that water conducts electricity. But apparently there didn't used to be any set expectations for what that fact would mean for an electricity based superpowered being in a game of elemental rock paper scissors.
In the episode that introduced Livewire Superman ultimately defeats her using water. The month in which that episode aired is exactly a year before the Pokemon franchise made it's American debut. In Pokemon's system water based attacks are ineffective against Electric Type Pokemon.
Pokemon has became I'm willing to say equal to Superman in pop cultural importance, in fact I'm very willing to say it's had a larger impact then the DCAU specifically. Meanwhile Livewire is a somewhat niche character even within Superman and DCAU fandoms, while one of Pokemon's Electric based characters is it's Mascot.
It is a well known scientific fact that water conducts electricity. But apparently there didn't used to be any set expectations for what that fact would mean for an electricity based superpowered being in a game of elemental rock paper scissors.
In the episode that introduced Livewire Superman ultimately defeats her using water. The month in which that episode aired is exactly a year before the Pokemon franchise made it's American debut. In Pokemon's system water based attacks are ineffective against Electric Type Pokemon.
Pokemon has became I'm willing to say equal to Superman in pop cultural importance, in fact I'm very willing to say it's had a larger impact then the DCAU specifically. Meanwhile Livewire is a somewhat niche character even within Superman and DCAU fandoms, while one of Pokemon's Electric based characters is it's Mascot.
So Pokemon's interpretation of how electricity based super powers should relate to water has became the standard even for people who haven't consumed any Pokemon media directly.
And yet whenever Livewire is reintroduced into a new version of the DCU, they feel compelled to keep the rules of that 97 cartoon. So even when she showed up on the Supergirl show in the fall of 2015 she's again defeated by water and thus everyone watching who didn't know the rules for this character were set before Pokemon was a phenomenon reacted with "wow they really didn't do their research".
And look popularity contests aside the science is on Pokemon's side here, Electric Eels live in the water, it's not a weakness for them. Livewire has been depicted as having the ablity to become pure electricity which I think makes the idea of water harming her even more absurd.
Livewire became a popular enough character to be a Canon immigrant because of her personality, I don't think anyone is really nostalgic enough for that detail of her debut episode to complain if DC decided to conform her to the modern rules standardized by Pokemon.
And yet whenever Livewire is reintroduced into a new version of the DCU, they feel compelled to keep the rules of that 97 cartoon. So even when she showed up on the Supergirl show in the fall of 2015 she's again defeated by water and thus everyone watching who didn't know the rules for this character were set before Pokemon was a phenomenon reacted with "wow they really didn't do their research".
And look popularity contests aside the science is on Pokemon's side here, Electric Eels live in the water, it's not a weakness for them. Livewire has been depicted as having the ablity to become pure electricity which I think makes the idea of water harming her even more absurd.
Livewire became a popular enough character to be a Canon immigrant because of her personality, I don't think anyone is really nostalgic enough for that detail of her debut episode to complain if DC decided to conform her to the modern rules standardized by Pokemon.
Saturday, August 8, 2020
Finishing Spring Anime 2020
Episode 13 of Tower of God, it’s first season finale was great. Did anyone else think the Music was sounding a little like “Sweet Dreams are made of these” at times?
Rachel is great character, she’s complex and a very specific type of Femme Fatale. I love when the seduction is purely emotional and not sexual at all.
I’ll definitely watch season 2 when it comes out.
I’ve decided I’m probably not gonna watch Weathering With You, I liked Your Name but I don’t feel like I like Shinkai enough to watch his movies just for being his.
Episode 16 of Railgun T starts with a new OP, so it seems like this is formally where the next Arc starts. It looks like it’s gonna be a combination of Inception and Pokemon Go.
Follow my Anime viewing in real time at these links..
https://myanimelist.net/profile/JaredMithrandir
https://twitter.com/JaredMithrandir
Also here is the introductory post for this series.
https://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2020/01/anime-2020.html
Rachel is great character, she’s complex and a very specific type of Femme Fatale. I love when the seduction is purely emotional and not sexual at all.
I’ll definitely watch season 2 when it comes out.
I’ve decided I’m probably not gonna watch Weathering With You, I liked Your Name but I don’t feel like I like Shinkai enough to watch his movies just for being his.
Episode 16 of Railgun T starts with a new OP, so it seems like this is formally where the next Arc starts. It looks like it’s gonna be a combination of Inception and Pokemon Go.
Follow my Anime viewing in real time at these links..
https://myanimelist.net/profile/JaredMithrandir
https://twitter.com/JaredMithrandir
Also here is the introductory post for this series.
https://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2020/01/anime-2020.html
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
I think more Sailor Moon fans need to check out other Magical Girl Warrior Anime
Back during the era of Nolan's Batman movies it was in certain places online like IMDB message boards very popular to express the opinion that Robin's existence is inherently bad for Batman. That Batman should be a loner and throwing in this kid sidekick only dumbs the stories down.
I was always agaisnt that mentality, and today most major voices in the internet Western Comic Book Nerd community reject that as really narrow minded and know that you're really not much of a Batman fan at all if you completely reject such a large portion of what the Batman mythos are.
As someone who remembers all of that while currently being a Millennial Otaku in an era where our current Nostalgia cycle has brought a number of old 90s Anime back into public conciseness. I feel like the Anime equivalent of that is the prevalence of Sailor Moon fans who wish Tuxedo Mask didn't exist, that position is nearly unanimous among the guests on the Sailor Business podcast.
I actually have more sympathy for this position even though it's less supportable (Tuxedo Mask was there from issue #1 unlike Robin) because my own preferences for female lead Anime and Superhero stories are often similar, I'm a Yuri Fanatic who likes watching Anime where it's possible to pretend males don't even exist in that fictional world. But when it comes to Sailor Moon my position is Mamoru/Darrien is just as essential as Lois Lane is to Superman, or Mary Jane to Spiderman, or Iris West to Barry Allen, or Sif to Thor.
Now talking about Tuxedo Mask is complicated by how the 90s Anime handled him very differently. This may shock some people to learn, but there are Sailor Moon Manga purists who hate everything about the 90s Anime, but this subject may often be where they'd start their rants. He's in High School not Collage in the Manga (and in Japan the age difference between middle school and high school is smaller then it is here, they are in fact only 2-3 years apart) Mamoru isn't constantly a jerk to her early on, Usagi isn't nearly as childish and Tuxedo Mask actually contributes more.
That element also fits the Robin comparison, the rejection of Robin was partly from how for a long time the mainstream public perception of Robin was mostly Burt Ward and Chris O'Donnell. And indeed I think the best western Comic Book analogy for those Manga purists who hate the Anime are people who still hate the Adam West and Shumacker takes on Batman. Those of us who have read Robin(s) as written by for example Chuck Dixon or Marv Wolfman know the concept can be taken seriously.
However some people don't like Mamoru even in the Manga, or heck some even find him worse in the Manga. These people simply hate the idea of tuning in to a show about a Superheroine (or "Female Superhero" as the CW's Supergirl pilot kept insisting on saying) where she is also constantly being rescued. Now most of those "rescues" range from cheer-leading her to adding a little minor assist like female love interests of male superhero also frequently get to contribute, and the final climax of the original story-line is her saving him. But these fans want male love interests to contribute 0% to their Superheroine stories.
Thing is that apparent contradiction is not a bug but a feature, it is kind of the entire premise of Sailor Moon. Film Flux did a video on the Sailor Moon Manga that helped me to clarify this. Superhero stories are at their core wish fulfillment fantasies, and like it or not many young girls fantasize both about being a Superhero and being a Damsel rescued by a handsome Prince (and some young boys have the same fantasies). While most Mangaka might have written two completely separate stories to express those fantasies Naoko Takeuchi said Frak It and did both simultaneously, she wrote a story where an average Japanese school girl gets to be both Snow White and Wonder Woman at the same time. The premise of Sailor Moon is foundationally about having your cake and eating it too.
Now you don't have to also be into that, my point is that this Prince Charming isn't something that's part of the story because of executive meddling. (If anything it's having other Girls helping her that was, Takeuchi's original vision was a solo Super-heroine, it was Toei that wanted a team so they could sell more toys.) And so if you fundamentally don't like that, you kind of don't like the premise of Sailor Moon.
The reason why in America Sailor Moon is popular with many people who actually share only half of Takeuchi's fantasy is because on mid 90s American television she was the only Superheroine we had to choose from at all.
Thing is it's now possible for Americans to watch almost any Anime they want to, and the sub-genre Sailor Moon spawned has evolved to provide plenty of shows that can better provide what these Sailor Moon fans actually want. I think there are plenty of people who might actually like the rest of the genre more but have still only seen Sailor Moon because they've never searched for Anime beyond what airs on Toonami, or because they're assuming them to be Sailor Moon knock offs with no actual creativity. But the truth is even the ones most similar to Sailor Moon are still just as distinct as Green Arrow is from Batman.
All or at least most Pretty Cure seasons have no Tuxedo Mask analogue, a few have Het love interests who are civilians, like Peter Parker crushing on Liz Allan or Mary Jane in the Raimi films, but most don't even have that. Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna Is A Hero and Symphogear provide no Het romance for the main character at all. Pretty Sammy and Nanoha also work, and Prisma Illya is....... not a good one to start with.
Corrector Yui doesn't seem to have a Tuxedo Mask figure from what I've seen so far, on Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne there is one kinda but he's a rival thief. On Saint Tail the love interest is the guy trying to catch her, so it's like Batman and Catwoman but if Catwoman was stealing things because God wanted her to do it???? I'm still not sure what that show's premise actually is. In Galaxy Fraulein Yuna there is a Tuxedo Mask but she's a woman, so those of you who enjoy having your sexuality confused by the Takerazuka style Mamoru in the new Musicals might enjoy that.
Even Wedding Peach is distinct on this issue since the person who could be called the Tuxedo Mask of the show is not the title character's love interest.
So I'm hoping once these Sailor Moon fans can get their no Tuxedo Mask Magical Girl fix elsewhere they can be open to appreciating Mamoru once they've seem him portrayed correctly on Crystal( just make sure you're watching the BluRay rips) or even the Live Action show PGSM. I also still recommend that Sailor Moon Fan Film from 2016.
I was always agaisnt that mentality, and today most major voices in the internet Western Comic Book Nerd community reject that as really narrow minded and know that you're really not much of a Batman fan at all if you completely reject such a large portion of what the Batman mythos are.
As someone who remembers all of that while currently being a Millennial Otaku in an era where our current Nostalgia cycle has brought a number of old 90s Anime back into public conciseness. I feel like the Anime equivalent of that is the prevalence of Sailor Moon fans who wish Tuxedo Mask didn't exist, that position is nearly unanimous among the guests on the Sailor Business podcast.
I actually have more sympathy for this position even though it's less supportable (Tuxedo Mask was there from issue #1 unlike Robin) because my own preferences for female lead Anime and Superhero stories are often similar, I'm a Yuri Fanatic who likes watching Anime where it's possible to pretend males don't even exist in that fictional world. But when it comes to Sailor Moon my position is Mamoru/Darrien is just as essential as Lois Lane is to Superman, or Mary Jane to Spiderman, or Iris West to Barry Allen, or Sif to Thor.
Now talking about Tuxedo Mask is complicated by how the 90s Anime handled him very differently. This may shock some people to learn, but there are Sailor Moon Manga purists who hate everything about the 90s Anime, but this subject may often be where they'd start their rants. He's in High School not Collage in the Manga (and in Japan the age difference between middle school and high school is smaller then it is here, they are in fact only 2-3 years apart) Mamoru isn't constantly a jerk to her early on, Usagi isn't nearly as childish and Tuxedo Mask actually contributes more.
That element also fits the Robin comparison, the rejection of Robin was partly from how for a long time the mainstream public perception of Robin was mostly Burt Ward and Chris O'Donnell. And indeed I think the best western Comic Book analogy for those Manga purists who hate the Anime are people who still hate the Adam West and Shumacker takes on Batman. Those of us who have read Robin(s) as written by for example Chuck Dixon or Marv Wolfman know the concept can be taken seriously.
However some people don't like Mamoru even in the Manga, or heck some even find him worse in the Manga. These people simply hate the idea of tuning in to a show about a Superheroine (or "Female Superhero" as the CW's Supergirl pilot kept insisting on saying) where she is also constantly being rescued. Now most of those "rescues" range from cheer-leading her to adding a little minor assist like female love interests of male superhero also frequently get to contribute, and the final climax of the original story-line is her saving him. But these fans want male love interests to contribute 0% to their Superheroine stories.
Thing is that apparent contradiction is not a bug but a feature, it is kind of the entire premise of Sailor Moon. Film Flux did a video on the Sailor Moon Manga that helped me to clarify this. Superhero stories are at their core wish fulfillment fantasies, and like it or not many young girls fantasize both about being a Superhero and being a Damsel rescued by a handsome Prince (and some young boys have the same fantasies). While most Mangaka might have written two completely separate stories to express those fantasies Naoko Takeuchi said Frak It and did both simultaneously, she wrote a story where an average Japanese school girl gets to be both Snow White and Wonder Woman at the same time. The premise of Sailor Moon is foundationally about having your cake and eating it too.
Now you don't have to also be into that, my point is that this Prince Charming isn't something that's part of the story because of executive meddling. (If anything it's having other Girls helping her that was, Takeuchi's original vision was a solo Super-heroine, it was Toei that wanted a team so they could sell more toys.) And so if you fundamentally don't like that, you kind of don't like the premise of Sailor Moon.
The reason why in America Sailor Moon is popular with many people who actually share only half of Takeuchi's fantasy is because on mid 90s American television she was the only Superheroine we had to choose from at all.
Thing is it's now possible for Americans to watch almost any Anime they want to, and the sub-genre Sailor Moon spawned has evolved to provide plenty of shows that can better provide what these Sailor Moon fans actually want. I think there are plenty of people who might actually like the rest of the genre more but have still only seen Sailor Moon because they've never searched for Anime beyond what airs on Toonami, or because they're assuming them to be Sailor Moon knock offs with no actual creativity. But the truth is even the ones most similar to Sailor Moon are still just as distinct as Green Arrow is from Batman.
All or at least most Pretty Cure seasons have no Tuxedo Mask analogue, a few have Het love interests who are civilians, like Peter Parker crushing on Liz Allan or Mary Jane in the Raimi films, but most don't even have that. Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna Is A Hero and Symphogear provide no Het romance for the main character at all. Pretty Sammy and Nanoha also work, and Prisma Illya is....... not a good one to start with.
Corrector Yui doesn't seem to have a Tuxedo Mask figure from what I've seen so far, on Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne there is one kinda but he's a rival thief. On Saint Tail the love interest is the guy trying to catch her, so it's like Batman and Catwoman but if Catwoman was stealing things because God wanted her to do it???? I'm still not sure what that show's premise actually is. In Galaxy Fraulein Yuna there is a Tuxedo Mask but she's a woman, so those of you who enjoy having your sexuality confused by the Takerazuka style Mamoru in the new Musicals might enjoy that.
Even Wedding Peach is distinct on this issue since the person who could be called the Tuxedo Mask of the show is not the title character's love interest.
So I'm hoping once these Sailor Moon fans can get their no Tuxedo Mask Magical Girl fix elsewhere they can be open to appreciating Mamoru once they've seem him portrayed correctly on Crystal( just make sure you're watching the BluRay rips) or even the Live Action show PGSM. I also still recommend that Sailor Moon Fan Film from 2016.
Saturday, August 1, 2020
Augustus Month 2020 begins
Well I’ve finally gotten to episode 12 of Tower of God.
Bam and Rachel were actually a percentage of this episode’s runtime. I think it’s interesting how that moment dominates the discussion of this show’s gender politics when we also have the Princesses of Jihad teaming up against an enforcer of their literal Patriarch.
As far as what Rachel did goes, we won’t really get an explanation till next week which is the season finale.
The final episode of The 8th Son was also pretty decent. I’ve alluded to the perhaps unintentional similarities to King David before, but when viewed as a re-imagining of David’s basic story in a different context I think it holds up better than that NBC TV show Kings from over a decade ago.
Hamefura was a fun show with a fun ending.
With Railgun T I may decide to just wait till it’s all dubbed and binge the later half of the season. But it also seems possible Railgun T will be the only thing I want to watch once Tower of God finishes at all.
None of the new Summer shows interest me, and I will wait for the Dubs for the new seasons of SAO and ReZero no matter how long they take. So this tag could wind up taking another break.
Bam and Rachel were actually a percentage of this episode’s runtime. I think it’s interesting how that moment dominates the discussion of this show’s gender politics when we also have the Princesses of Jihad teaming up against an enforcer of their literal Patriarch.
As far as what Rachel did goes, we won’t really get an explanation till next week which is the season finale.
The final episode of The 8th Son was also pretty decent. I’ve alluded to the perhaps unintentional similarities to King David before, but when viewed as a re-imagining of David’s basic story in a different context I think it holds up better than that NBC TV show Kings from over a decade ago.
Hamefura was a fun show with a fun ending.
With Railgun T I may decide to just wait till it’s all dubbed and binge the later half of the season. But it also seems possible Railgun T will be the only thing I want to watch once Tower of God finishes at all.
None of the new Summer shows interest me, and I will wait for the Dubs for the new seasons of SAO and ReZero no matter how long they take. So this tag could wind up taking another break.
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