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Jan 19, 2015 7:35 PM
#51
Ikuhara is definitely the embodiment of degeneracy. I can't tell when he is being serious and ironic, and the same issues I had in Penguindrum I found here: everything looks like a parody of everything manga and anime culture has cultimated so far. It's too early to catch on the story for 3 episodes but the style is pretty much what you've seen in his previous works (don't tell me that the Severance Court doesn't resemble that "Seizon Senryaku" thing - for me its just an attempt to freak the shit of us and forget the nature laws which rules over everyone). The rose motif is also over used in Utena, which I haven't watched so I'm not expecting to think much over it if it represents anything other than delicaly. If you aren't familiar with Kunihiko Ikuhara works or simply hated what you've seen so far, just drop this show and go back to your rom-com harem crap and never graduate to adulthood. Bdiah said: Ikuhara has always been...very free with depictions of sexually charged symbolism in his show in a way that is unusual in anime. In this respect, Yuri Kuma Arashi is more Ikuhara than any prior Ikuhara show. Specifically, what I am referring to is the extremely in-your-face vaginal symbolism that is absolutely pervasive in this show. The lilies, the honey, the double entendre use of the concept of "eating". This show is sexual in a way that most fan-service-y shows would never even dream of being. For me, Ikuhara is a sexist with strong lesbian fetish. He already stated about being uncomfortable about male-female pairings (due to the fact that it overhelms the other elements of the show) but what about an exclusive yuri show? I swear to god I won't be surprised if news arrive stating that his house is filled with roses, yuri, lolis and transgender materials. |
surfboard_Jan 19, 2015 7:47 PM
Jan 19, 2015 7:53 PM
#54
E_1999 said: this is one of the those shows where describing it as pretentious is actually accurate Ikuhara outright trumps any anime director I've ever seen in terms of pretentiousness and that includes the likes of Akiyuki Shinbo and Hideakki Anno. There's just something incredibly off-putting about his self-important and pompous approach to directing with the constant repetition, obfuscating the supposed purposes of his work (even though I'm not convinced there is any) and then proceeding to thumb peoples nose in his bizarre fetishes and supposed belief in feminism and sensitivity which really just comes across as more bizarre fetishism. This is before the manner in which he tends to act in interviews refusing to ever answer people directly and just again coming across as really pompous and outright weird. His behavior IMO isn't something to be celebrated and personally if you ask me the guy comes across as a complete turkey and shameless individual and it really drags his shows down despite some occasional bursts of interesting and flashy visuals and the odd moments of coherency. What might irk me more though are the double standards that always seem to surround the guy where because he seems to have acquired such a bizarrely huge fanboy following from the 90's with Utena which IMO is his one sort of okay work that he can something like Yuri Kuma Arashi on TV that probably would get lambasted under any other circumstances for the kind of content and execution it has delivered to date or at the very least receive tepid reviews and reactions and instead gets praised as being on the verge of some sort of ingenious breakthrough by the same people that normally are all kinds of ready to harshly and unconditionally criticize shows with the kinds of material that are featured here. PriestSlayer said: Why is the anime community so toxic? I too, think this is bad, but you don't see me creating threads seeking validation for my opinion. I'm not sure and would agree with that sentiment with that exact phrasing (the bit about the anime community in it's current state being highly toxic), but at the same time this is one of those rare instances where I think a guys reputation as a genius creator of masterpieces far exceeds enough peoples ability to agree with that idea and that this discussion regarding Ikuhara and shows like this needs to happen more often if only to avoid a bitter double standard regarding his shows vs others like it. That being said.... Xenlai said: Haha Comon guys, I kinda like this show but let's be perfectly honest here. Deeper meenings? plot? this anime? ha. Just because the author created a few controversial pieces in the past that obviously twickd your brain enough to comment about it doesn't mean that everything else he makes is a mystery novel. You can find deeper meanings in EVERYTHING :D Even in an abstract newspaper article. Pretty much this. I mean if people want to come to the conclusion that it should be judged once it's all over I think that would be fair, but in that case I wouldn't expect to see any of the usual anime community style proclamations of utter masterpiece or complete garbage before all is said and done and fat chance at that ever happening. |
PeacingOutJan 19, 2015 8:02 PM
Jan 19, 2015 8:07 PM
#55
Philosophical question: Does cancer know that it is cancer? |
Jan 19, 2015 9:25 PM
#56
surfboard_ said: I swear to god I won't be surprised if news arrive stating that his house is filled with roses, yuri, lolis and transgender materials. I laughed at this comment because it seems so plausible. As much as I enjoy his work, I have often wondered what sort of troubled mind could produce what he makes. You stated that he was sexist, and I kind of agree, but I also wonder if that is merely some sort of bizarre projection of his own sexuality issues. Given that he lives in a country with a the relatively conservative sexual culture, I really wonder if he isn't a closeted transgender person, unable to be open about his preferences. If that is the case, I do feel quite bad for him as I cannot imagine that is an easy life in Japan. |
Jan 19, 2015 9:35 PM
#57
Bdiah said: I have often wondered what sort of troubled mind could produce what he makes. Troubled, hardly. It is actually the opposite. Anyone who thinks this show is pretentious or strange is just plain dull. |
Jan 19, 2015 9:40 PM
#58
fst said: Philosophical question: Does cancer know that it is cancer? Yes because it is Yuri approved. On a serious note, I'm really enjoying Yuri Kuma Arashi as a comedy. It's sillier than Utena and alot of the symbolism is easier to process than Utena as well. Granted from what I have been told, a good deal of the symbolism in Utena was thrown in there to purposely distort the show's message in order to fuck with fans. Either Yuri Kuma Arashi is alot of fun and I look forward to it every week. |
Jan 19, 2015 9:46 PM
#59
The problem is that it was originally planned as a 2 cour show. At this point show is simply aimed only at his fans, it's literally Ikuhara's many quirks but not much else. His previous works had very memorable characters/plot/setting, in that I always forget what do the bear girls look like. It's not a bad show but it's pretty disappointing to see the mind behind the greatest anime of all time being forced into mediocrity. Not really his fault but still |
Jan 20, 2015 1:24 AM
#60
I cant see why people here have high opinion for symbolism that is up right in your face, whats the use for them when the whole premise is figured out in episode 1, they should be used in more subtle way and be picked up like a puzzle that by the end of the show they give you a whole picture. This feels like some clever censorship and nothing more. But thats not the reason why i dont like this show. The main reason is that it feels extremely small and cheap. What's the use of animation when everything is so static that manga has more life to it. Not to mention that it is sexist, I mean why should the ones that decide what is beautiful, cool and sexy be males... i don't think that author had any thoughts by it and thats how the whole show feels like. Sure there is general direction, but it's poorly executed. Not to mention that manga is completely different and given the episode count ikuhara just decided to chew his work that it fits the size and has the same impact or whatever, not that it matters now. |
private_eyeJan 20, 2015 1:34 AM
Jan 20, 2015 1:45 AM
#61
This is crap because there is supposed "symbolism" that goes beyond pretentious. The show just throws "deep" things into the audiences faces and to be quite honest with you, they don't even make much sense. The writers obviously wanted to be unique with this crazy-weird plot and... it just didn't work out. The story is not enjoyable nor is it really "genius". The messed up yuri is annoying to constantly watch as well. The plot is pretty confusing, but that's probably because it makes no sense. |
Jan 20, 2015 1:58 AM
#62
I have noooooo idea what is going on lol I'm just enjoying the abstract art style. |
Jan 20, 2015 2:15 AM
#63
IF this anime didn't have very cute lesbian girls there is no way I could put up with this symbolism bullshit. I'm sorry but I usually watch anime to escape into a world of fun and make belief.....but when that world is all about symbolic meaning and VERY CONFUSING plot devices and very slowly taking it's time to properly piece the puzzle.....I start to lose my fucking mind. Maybe at the end it'll all be crystal clear, but damn, this is annoying. |
Jan 20, 2015 3:54 AM
#64
Because Ikuhara is getting increasingly more self-indulgent with every series he makes and has long lost sight of the fact that it was the characters above all else that made Utena such an amazing show. It doesn't help that Yuri Kuma only has 12 episodes, so Ikuhara has to throw his whole mess of symbolism at us without any sense of pacing. The symbolism here is pointless because it has no grounding and no characters with any sort of depth for the audience to care about. Even Penguindrum for all its faults, established its characters before it went off into the deep end. |
Hunter2X2Jan 20, 2015 3:57 AM
Jan 20, 2015 6:47 AM
#65
Penguindrum had 24 episodes and Utena had 39, if anything, the problem of pacing and character flesshing might be the size of disposal - which forces the author to compress everything into a smaller product without much room for characterization. |
Jan 20, 2015 8:05 AM
#66
This is not bad. Most of people are either too shallow to get the social commentary this show is doing OR are the kind of otaku normal class-s yuri shows target. This is quite good interpretation of the show as is the anime news network review of the show that seems to mostly get the main themes unlike most of MAL viewers |
Jan 20, 2015 8:08 AM
#67
Too many dumb people in this world. That's why it's considered ''bad'. |
Jan 20, 2015 8:43 AM
#68
So many ignorant comments, ugh |
Jan 20, 2015 8:53 AM
#69
Bad news... This series is very unpopular in Japan. Very few people are pre-ordering the Blu-rays and DVDs prior to the date that they actually go on sale. This is measured by "Amazon Stalker points". There are going to be six volumes. As of this minute, here are the "Amazon Stalker points" for the various volumes. The first column is the volume number. The second column is the date that the volume will go on sale. Then I quote the Amazon Stalker points for the Blu-ray (BD) and the DVD. Sorry, but I got too tired to look up the last three volumes. V1 2015/03/25 BD 1071 DVD 173 V2 2015/04/24 BD 1029 DVD 159 V3 2015/05/27 BD 1281 DVD 209 V4 2015/06/24 BD ....... DVD ... V5 2015/07/24 BD ....... DVD ... V6 2015/08/26 BD ....... DVD ... Many other users here in MAL are much more familiar with the interpretation of Amazon Stalker points, as well as making use of other information sources to gauge sales. However, my non-expert opinion is that this looks to me like "crash-and-burn". As a historical note, both "Aoi Hana" (青い花/Sweet Blue Flowers) and "Sasameki Koto" (ささめきこと/Whispered Words) crashed and burned at the end of 2009, which is believed to have resulted in the end of the golden age of Yuri and the start of the great Yuri drought. "Yurikuma" appears to me to be yet another failed attempt to replicate the spectacular success of "Maria-sama ga Miteru" (マリア様がみてる) which ran over four seasons from January 2004 to March 2009. So I don't expect to see many more "Central-Element Yuri" anime series being produced any time soon. Yuri fans should turn their Yuri goggles up to maximum magnification in the hopes of seeing some Yuri subtext in popular series such as "Amagi Brilliant Park", "Sword Art Online" and maybe "Free!". Are you desperate to see more high-quality Yuri by Ikuhara? Then go back and watch "Aoi Hana". He didn't work on the actual series. However, he created the storyboard for the OP sequence. That was it. It is a very good OP. |
Jan 20, 2015 8:58 AM
#70
Yet more people missing the point. This is not trying to be class S yuri And I am not surprised that japan HATES this. Homophobia and misogyny is VERY prevalent in japan so any show that calls out on t hat WILL be despised. |
Jan 20, 2015 9:11 AM
#71
Ikuhara works employ a different narrative style. If you don't like it, you don't like it. Nothing wrong with that. But to outright deny that his works are bereft of meaning is uninformed at best and straight up retarded at worst. There are entire websites devoted to exploring anime like Utena and Penguindrum. I know that people have knee-jerk reactions to buzzphrases like "hidden meaning", "deep", "symbolic", etc. but all of those words apply here. The motifs that Ikuhara employs are very much purposeful. You can disagree with the execution of it - e.g. overuse of symbolism, shaky pacing, and disagreement with some of the messages are all valid reasons to dislike and criticize Utena. But if you say "Ikuhara is pretentious" or "his works are meaningless drivel" or something along those lines, then you're just falling back on lazy non-arguments to try and criticize shows that a lot of people enjoy for valid reasons. As far as YKA goes, I just started the first two eps, it looks like his weirdest project yet. It'll be interesting to see where it goes. For people who have never seen Ikuhara, I strongly recommend you watch Utena first to get a feel for his style. It's much more accessible than YKA is, imo. |
Jan 20, 2015 9:56 AM
#72
Blind_Guardian said: It's bad because it's bad.It's pure fucking garbage. That's why it's so bad. So enlightening. PS: Haven't seen this show nor do I care about it, but I just liked his post. |
Jan 21, 2015 1:04 AM
#73
CookingPriest said: Yet more people missing the point. This is not trying to be class S yuri And I am not surprised that japan HATES this. Homophobia and misogyny is VERY prevalent in japan so any show that calls out on t hat WILL be despised. I agree. This show is not easily digested. It's very accurate in making a point about "invisible" vs "visible" state of yuri in anime. Shows that provide prominent yuri subtext are more likely to succeed than those that clearly show two girls are in a sexual and romantic relationship. |
Jan 21, 2015 5:19 AM
#74
I'm less peeved by the BD sales than I'd normally be since, unlike Yuyushiki or Sora no Woto, there's probably not going to be any room for a sequel after it's all said and done but it's still quite sad for obvious reasons. But hey, Free! and Girls und Panzer took a little while to get off the ground and look where they are now. Never say never. The series relies very heavily on the assumption that the viewer has some knowledge of Ikuhara's work, a critical mind to look at scenes in a metaphorical sense rather than just taking eveything at face value (It's virtually imposible to competently analyse the series any other way) or at least a willingness to accept its insanity (Which is what got me through Penguindrum without any knowledge of Ikuhara) so it isn't hard to see why not everyone is on board. |
Jan 21, 2015 5:23 AM
#75
I seriously wonder, if those ''hurr durr people can't understand it'' actually understand most of the symbolism themselves. So many pretentious fucks in this site. |
Jan 21, 2015 5:31 AM
#76
SeibaaHomu said: I'm less peeved by the BD sales than I'd normally be since, unlike Yuyushiki or Sora no Woto, there's probably not going to be any room for a sequel after it's all said and done but it's still quite sad for obvious reasons. But hey, Free! and Girls und Panzer took a little while to get off the ground and look where they are now. Never say never. The series relies very heavily on the assumption that the viewer has some knowledge of Ikuhara's work, a critical mind to look at scenes in a metaphorical sense rather than just taking eveything at face value (It's virtually imposible to competently analyse the series any other way) or at least a willingness to accept its insanity (Which is what got me through Penguindrum without any knowledge of Ikuhara) so it isn't hard to see why not everyone is on board. Yeah I'd say watching Utena before this is kind of required to get accustomed to Ikuhara's style. |
Jan 21, 2015 6:52 AM
#77
I thought that too OP but after the 2nd episode I started getting into it and enjoy it a lot more. For me the first episode took me by shock because I wasn't expecting something like this but it was something different from the regular formula of anime so it was nice. |
Jan 21, 2015 9:45 AM
#78
Ikuhara is playing this all over again http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes Symbolism =/= Deep Half of the plot will be made up by fans speculation and they will claim that its "2deep4u" |
Jan 21, 2015 10:57 AM
#79
CookingPriest said: Yet more people missing the point. This is not trying to be class S yuri And I am not surprised that japan HATES this. Homophobia and misogyny is VERY prevalent in japan so any show that calls out on t hat WILL be despised. That's assuming the bulk of them are aware that's what it's doing. I'll bet there's plenty of people who are just like "dafuq is this shit" and changed the channel. In any case it's not like Ikuhara's work isn't highly uncommercial, discounting Sailor Moon. |
Jan 21, 2015 11:12 AM
#80
There isn't anything in this show not to understand. Sure, this is not some mindless comedy, but everything is pretty understandable so far. At least the basic metafores. And hopefully most of the stuff will get clear at the ending. Give it some time. |
Jan 21, 2015 11:30 AM
#81
robis798 said: There isn't anything in this show not to understand. Sure, this is not some mindless comedy, but everything is pretty understandable so far. At least the basic metafores. And hopefully most of the stuff will get clear at the ending. Give it some time. It depends on the type of viewer and their tastes. Its pretty easy to disregard this anime because of the visuals and ~yuri~ overload. Just think of Western Cinema, its the same. |
Jan 21, 2015 11:59 AM
#82
Where are you getting the idea that its horrible? Its packed so much symbolism and so many ideas in so quickly so early, all while having really smooth animation, beautiful visuals, and wonderful music. The only issue I've come by is that its rushing through things too quickly. |
Jan 21, 2015 5:14 PM
#83
Wow. This is becoming...painful to read. Do the people criticizing this show even know what they're talking about? A symbol is something that stands for something else. That's it. That's all it is. From what I understand (which is, admittedly, not much), this generally happens through association. To use this show as an example, lilies have been associated with purity, so over time they became a symbol of said purity. At that point, you don't need lilies to be next to a pure thing to make the association. All you need is the lily, and possibly some context if you want to be more specific. Essentially, the fact that the lily is present says, "this thing/person is pure". Symbolism isn't automatically deep. How it's used is what determines such a thing. Essentially, symbols are used for efficiency. Because they can get across meaning with less effort than words or actions, you can convey more with the time you've saved. Symbols are also more abstract than words or actions, so depending on how they're used, they can convey complex things much more easily than if those things were conveyed in words or actions. In my (again, limited) experience, symbols feel a little different than words or actions when you experience them (I'm not really sure how else to phrase it). The hiccup is that, to understand the symbol you have to know what it means. I don't know a lot of symbolism. I've done a ton of searches and reading online to try to understand how the symbols are being used in Yurikuma. It's not the kind of thing that you can't learn if you don't already know it. It's like any skill, the more you practice it, the better you get. Don't understand =/= can't understand. I'm saying this because I've seen some people disparaging others for essentially being "too dumb to get it". As someone who is honestly still firmly in that group, but who has decided to try to learn to watch things more critically and thoughtfully, I really can't stand that kind of talk because it implies that if you don't know, you can never know, which is as far from the truth as you can get. With Yurikuma, it seems like a lot of the symbolism in the first two episodes (the only ones I've seen so far) is really overt--because I perceive it. Honestly, from what I've seen of it, to really understand the basic story in this show, you have to sort of couple that surface-level symbolism with the story as it goes along, otherwise it will seem really confused. What that means is that if you don't pick up on that surface-level symbolism, you'll be lost. There are also a couple metaphors and some wordplay that's going on in tandem with the symbolism that you need to have picked up on. If you go and read some anibloggers' posts about the first couple of episodes (or heck, just read through the discussion threads for the first two episodes here on MAL), it'll sink in surprisingly quickly. So, for everyone who's confused about this show, do that. And people really need to learn what "pretentious" means. At this point, from multiple interviews of and commentary by Ikuhara I've seen and read, I'm reasonably certain he isn't pretentious. A troll sometimes, yes, but pretentious? He seems to have a good sense of humor about himself and his work. Honestly, I think Yurikuma is a great example of this. It's so weird and silly and absurd at times that how can you possibly see it as taking itself super seriously and being high on its own importance? And even with the trolling Ikuhara does sometimes, I think there's a reason for it: He likes abstraction. Abstraction leaves things open to interpretation. In that vein, why would Ikuhara just tell you everything? If part of the point of the work is to get you to think about what it's addressing, spelling it out in the work itself or in interviews and commentary runs counter to that goal. Another thing I've heard, but am not very certain of myself, is that in general the anime studios tend to handle their directors. They don't like them talking about that stuff. Again, this is only something I've heard and don't know for myself, but if it is true, it could be another reason for Ikuhara's vagueness in interviews and the like. Also, as has been said by many others, this is an Ikuhara show. Knowing how he does things is really helpful, just in that you know what you're getting into. I do agree that, just because he made some really critically beloved shows in the past, it doesn't mean this one will be the same, but there's absolutely no way to know that only two or three episodes in. Also, he seems consistent enough that I don't think it's unreasonable in the slightest to have high expectations for Yurikuma. Again, there's no way to know only two or three episodes in. Just wait and see. If you don't like this sort of thing, that's perfectly understandable, but you can't say that makes the show bad. On the flip-side, if you do like this sort of thing, that doesn't make it automatically good. It's all in how you use it. Now, if you don't like it because you're missing stuff left and right because you can't perceive it (and believe me, I know what that's like; that's what happens to me most of the time), then you can do a lot to change that. Criticisms based on ignorance are really flimsy and people readily object to them, as in this thread. However, that's also something that can be changed if you wish, by learning about what you don't know. Really, if you're bagging on the show and you don't really even know what you're bagging on, you should really expect the pushback. Not every show is obvious. Not every show gives you the answers. Not every show is escapist. I think this last one is important because the vast majority of people just want that out of their entertainment, and that's fine! Anime is great at escapism. But, when it's not being escapist, you need to recognize that. You can't validly criticize something based on what it's not. That doesn't make sense. I guess I felt it necessary to write this because a lot of the back and forth in this thread seems to be caused by people not really understanding where the other side is coming from, and maybe not fully understanding where they themselves are coming from (my spiel about people not having the same amount or kinds of knowledge). And maybe that's a big assumption on my part, but it's the impression I've gotten from following this thread pretty much since it started. Discussion and debate is good and all, but this one doesn't really seem to be going anywhere. |
Jan 21, 2015 7:54 PM
#84
I got curious about what kind of symbols/metaphors/meaning Japanese fans were seeing. So I did a bunch of Googling. I tried to read as much as possible of anything where people were talking about the series. It came as a bit of a surprise that, in the end, I didn't find a very wide range of things, even though I Googled as many potentially relevant keywords as I could think of. The dominant idea seems to be well-illustrated by five still images from the series along with two symbols. You can see them all here: http://purisoku.com/archives/7756686.html The five still images are: (1) A bird's-eye view of the school (showing a pink triangle) (2) The array of funeral drawers (showing a pink triangle) (3) A street view of Kureha's house (a pink triangle) (4) Kureha's bedroom (maybe a pink triangle in there somewhere) (5) That structure in the school garden (pink) Below those, the two symbols (not actually shown in the series) are: (a) A pink triangle surrounded by green circle (b) A pink triangle A key point is that, in most of the five still images, the pink triangles tends to be surrounded in green. So this is symbol (a), which they say is the "straight ally" (ストレート・アライ) symbol. See here for a detailed explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_ally In many, many different webpage discussions, there is emphasis of the same basic theme of a something pink being surrounded with something green, and what that might mean. There is not a harsh rigidity that the pink must be a triangle or that the green must be a circle. Only a smaller number of webpages that I saw actually discussed it in detail. The second issue of interest is the "pink triangle" (ピンク・トライアングル/ピンクの三角) on its own. So for example, they mention the use of the pink triangle (also known in German as the Rosa Winkel) as a marking used on homosexuals when they were persecuted by the Nazis during the holocaust in the 1940s. See here for details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_triangle Eventually I found a lot, and here are some of the better webpages which I came across (all in Japanese) in case you want to follow up: http://blog.livedoor.jp/nylon66/archives/52134455.html http://purisoku.com/archives/7756686.html http://ch.nicovideo.jp/yamachi/blomaga/ar707295 http://88ch.net/archives/20570179.html http://animan.doorblog.jp/archives/42885736.html |
Jan 21, 2015 8:15 PM
#85
okanagan said: I got curious about what kind of symbols/metaphors/meaning Japanese fans were seeing. So I did a bunch of Googling. I tried to read as much as possible of anything where people were talking about the series. It came as a bit of a surprise that, in the end, I didn't find a very wide range of things, even though I Googled as many potentially relevant keywords as I could think of. The dominant idea seems to be well-illustrated by five still images from the series along with two symbols. You can see them all here: http://purisoku.com/archives/7756686.html The five still images are: (1) A bird's-eye view of the school (showing a pink triangle) (2) The array of funeral drawers (showing a pink triangle) (3) A street view of Kureha's house (a pink triangle) (4) Kureha's bedroom (maybe a pink triangle in there somewhere) (5) That structure in the school garden (pink) Below those, the two symbols (not actually shown in the series) are: (a) A pink triangle surrounded by green circle (b) A pink triangle A key point is that, in most of the five still images, the pink triangles tends to be surrounded in green. So this is symbol (a), which they say is the "straight ally" (ストレート・アライ) symbol. See here for a detailed explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_ally In many, many different webpage discussions, there is emphasis of the same basic theme of a something pink being surrounded with something green, and what that might mean. There is not a harsh rigidity that the pink must be a triangle or that the green must be a circle. Only a smaller number of webpages that I saw actually discussed it in detail. The second issue of interest is the "pink triangle" (ピンク・トライアングル/ピンクの三角) on its own. So for example, they mention the use of the pink triangle (also known in German as the Rosa Winkel) as a marking used on homosexuals when they were persecuted by the Nazis during the holocaust in the 1940s. See here for details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_triangle Eventually I found a lot, and here are some of the better webpages which I came across (all in Japanese) in case you want to follow up: http://blog.livedoor.jp/nylon66/archives/52134455.html http://purisoku.com/archives/7756686.html http://ch.nicovideo.jp/yamachi/blomaga/ar707295 http://88ch.net/archives/20570179.html http://animan.doorblog.jp/archives/42885736.html Thats a nice research, thanks. The straight ally sums up my thoughts regarding Ikuhara's own position on this whole matter. |
Jan 21, 2015 8:23 PM
#86
It's not a bad show at all unless you have the IQ of a fucking stump and just wanted to watch it in hopes of full uncensored hentai level yuri. That's just MAL though. Shows that make you think = low ratings Shows that are terrible but ride purely on hype (ex. Tokyo Ghoul) = automatic 8+. |
Jan 21, 2015 11:29 PM
#87
UGH....here come pretentious MALers calling out anyone who isn't as deep as them and letting them know that the reason they don't like the show is because they're too simple minded to get it. Folks.....this isn't fucking psychology class, it's anime, featuring very cute girls and hell equally very cute bear things and other very cute visuals. People are not liking it because we're getting conflicting messages here....do we want to watch a deep symbolic show or just a cute lesbian anime? A deep symbolic show would be great, but when you put so much fucking fluff and you make everyone a lesbian (which males are instantly attracted to) it's not exactly surprising when said males get frustrated because they're seeing these two mediums muddled up together. I personally don't think it's a bad show, and I am starting to get it, but fuck it's still annoying and highly pretentious. |
Jan 21, 2015 11:59 PM
#88
JustALEX said: UGH....here come pretentious MALers calling out anyone who isn't as deep as them and letting them know that the reason they don't like the show is because they're too simple minded to get it. I think they're rather frustrated because people keep complaining about irrelevant things. JustALEX said: A deep symbolic show would be great, but when you put so much fucking fluff and you make everyone a lesbian (which males are instantly attracted to) it's not exactly surprising when said males get frustrated because they're seeing these two mediums muddled up together. That just shows we need more anime like that and get more people into it, instead of spoonfeeding with generic moe and mecha. JustALEX said: I personally don't think it's a bad show, and I am starting to get it, but fuck it's still annoying and highly pretentious. 3 episodes so far and I don't think we can even call it pretentious. But since thats your case, would you elaborate it? |
Jan 22, 2015 7:53 AM
#89
'This show about lesbians written by a guy who obviously believes very strongly in gay rights and is highly respected by many in the LGBT community has absolutely no hidden message about homophobia in it whatsoever!' By the way guys, those court room scenes where a small group of guys who have absolutely nothing to do with the cast judge whether or not it's okay for them to do lesbian stuff? The fact that the leader of this group cares mostly only cares about what is 'sexy'? The fact that Kureha constantly needs to keep proving her love to these people even though the audience is positioned to be on board with it from the start? All for show. No social commentary here folks. |
Jan 22, 2015 8:25 AM
#90
This thread reminds me of the episode someone in the staff supposedly said it was too hard for the audience to see the symbolism, so Ikuhara put a little hand pointing to them througout the episode, just like that. Example |
MomonoJan 22, 2015 1:39 PM
Jan 22, 2015 9:31 AM
#91
VirtualStar said: This thread reminds me of the episode someone in the staff supposedly said it was too hard for the audience to see the symbolism, so Ikuhara put a little hand pointing to them througout the episode, just like that. Drives me crazy when directors think symbolism is needed for story telling. On another note, yes, noticing the true meaning of those visual tropes make some people feel "smart", but at the end the story and the meaning behind of this series seem to be lacking. Makes me feel like solving a 10,000 pieces jigsaw puzzle with a picture of dickbutt. |
Jan 22, 2015 9:34 AM
#92
VirtualStar said: This thread reminds me of the episode someone in the staff supposedly said it was too hard for the audience to see the symbolism, so Ikuhara put a little hand pointing to them througout the episode, just like that. lol |
Jan 22, 2015 10:37 AM
#93
SirFashion said: But what director think it is needed?Drives me crazy when directors think symbolism is needed for story telling. It's a matter of taste both for the audience and for the director, Ikuhara likes this stuff and some people like his style of story-telling, it's just that simple. Some people like abstract art, some painters like painting abstractly, some prefer regular art, some enjoy both, etc. Nothing is an obligation as a matter of preference (which includes the director), and variation in the medium should be always good |
MomonoJan 22, 2015 10:44 AM
Jan 22, 2015 10:58 AM
#94
VirtualStar said: SirFashion said: But what director think it is needed?Drives me crazy when directors think symbolism is needed for story telling. It's a matter of taste both for the audience and for the director, Ikuhara likes this stuff and some people like his style of story-telling, it's just that simple. Some people like abstract art, some painters like painting abstractly, some prefer regular art, some enjoy both, etc. Nothing is an obligation as a matter of preference (which includes the director), and variation in the medium should be always good You have to accept that those hands where really pretentious. IMHO this guys make me cringe. |
Jan 22, 2015 11:06 AM
#95
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FauxSymbolism This one is a good read for both parties (supporting - hating). |
Jan 22, 2015 11:17 AM
#96
The whole point of any narrative is the message it carries. Shit like "plot" or "characters" are just a window dressing for the commentary someone wants to make. Any sort of narrative style (be it a more metaphorical approach like Ikuhara's, a more traditionalist approach that is common storytelling or a more frantic stream of consciousness storytelling) is acceptable to achieve that. Narrative is not made to tell you a story. A story is made in the narrative to convey a message. You could have a movie where absolutely nothing happens and characters sit in a single room for the whole length of it and it would still be a great narrative if the message and symbolism it portrays is carried across. Implying that "symbolism" or "metaphors" or "narrative focus" is not needed(all of them being THE POINT for the narrative even existing) is ridiculous and pretty much is the same as calling the likes of D.Lynch, A.Jodorowsky or S.Tsukomoto hacks. If narrative does not try to make the viewer's mind work nor make them think about the messages portrayed, then that narrative is worthless popcorn. |
Jan 22, 2015 11:51 AM
#97
Each Ikuhara show is worse than the previous. Maybe he'll turn it around one day... |
Jan 22, 2015 12:54 PM
#98
I can't help but to be reminded of video game criticism and the misuse of the phrase "artificial difficulty." Much like how that phrase is used to describe design choices someone doesn't like, the word "pretentious" seems to be used to describe narrative/directorial choices someone doesn't like. |
"I may be liberal arts to the core, but I am capable of thinking logically." |
Jan 22, 2015 1:21 PM
#99
opernlied said: I can't help but to be reminded of video game criticism and the misuse of the phrase "artificial difficulty." Much like how that phrase is used to describe design choices someone doesn't like, the word "pretentious" seems to be used to describe narrative/directorial choices someone doesn't like. It is pretentious when the author/director wants everyone to understand it as if it was the narrative itself, when symbolism its just a way to add depth to an already developed story. As the meaning of the word "making an exaggerated outward show" Ikuhara's work just abuse of this "style" (if you could call it that way) of deep story telling, making people to over-analyze and giving meaning to things that arent meant to. Also the fan base of this works are totally douche thinking that if someone didnt liked it its because it was 2deep4them and that they are pretty dumb to understand it. |
SirFashionJan 22, 2015 1:25 PM
Jan 22, 2015 1:32 PM
#100
SirFashion said: As the meaning of the word "making an exaggerated outward show" Ikuhara's work just abuse of this "style" (if you could call it that way) of deep story telling, making people to over-analyze and giving meaning to things that arent meant to. That's right, but it isn't as negative as you made it sound like, at least for me. But it gets tiring and boring once you over do. SirFashion said: Also the fan base of this works are totally douche thinking that if someone didnt liked it its because it was 2deep4them and that they are pretty dumb to understand it. Fanbase of most directors and even music bands usually behaves like this, but thats just them, we must not let a group's attitude affect your opinion of any work. |
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