- Last OnlineYesterday, 2:23 PM
- BirthdayJul 20, 2004
- LocationYour Mom's House
- JoinedMar 24, 2020
Secret Santa Exchange 20th Anniversary Olympic Sports A Bookworm's Haven Fantasy Anime League You Should Read This Manga My MALentine Story Fantasy Anime League Also Available at
RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Jan 27, 2025
Most anime from the 1970s is not worth your time. Being 50 years ago, the animation is usually stiff, the voice acting poor quality, and the writing trite and pointless. The Rose of Versailles, however, is not that.
I will start by saying that The Rose of Versailles is not historically accurate. I don't know a whole lot about the French revolution, but even I can tell it's dramatized and fictionalized. That being said, I do not think any of its representations of historical figures are particularly offensive, so I'll let it slide. I would appreciate historical accuracy more, but I don't think anyone should ever
...
go into a biopic or work of historical fiction expecting accuracy.
That being said, I did appreciate its take on the French revolution for being more nuanced than some others. Marie Antoinette is a polarizing historical figure who is seen either as a symbol of the corrupt, cruel bourgeoise or an innocent victim who was only guillotined because of sexism. Neither of these are exactly true, as Marie Antoinette was a human being. The Rose of Versailles is rather sympathetic to her (a little much for my tastes, in all honesty, but not enough for me to knock it), so I was afraid it was going to go the second route, however I was pleasantly surprised to see that it did not shy away from the truth that the people starved because of Antoinette's flagrant spending habits. It does present Antoinette as good natured and well meaning, which some probably will not agree with, but just because it sees her intentions as pure, that does not mean it agrees with her actions. It may present her failings as a result of naivety, but that does not mean it shies away from those failings. It's rather realistic in that sense; many people on this Earth do not mean to do harm and want to do good things for the people they love but are unable to see how their actions affect other people. Letting your people starve is still an immoral action regardless of whether you ignored them on purpose or because you were so privileged you didn't realize you were. Was Antoinette actually like this in real life? Who knows. But it works here.
Their ultimate condemnation of Antoinette's actions comes down to Lady Oscar: the real protagonist. Going into this, I was wary of Oscar, because I already knew she was hyped up as incredibly strong, capable, righteous, and talented at many things. I worried she would be an incredibly shallow character who exists just for the author to brag about. Thankfully, I was proven very wrong.
I would say 'righteous' is probably Oscar's main character trait. She is defined by her want to do good. However, she is also a French noblewoman. She was born loyal to the crown, and in fact serves directly under Antoinette herself and becomes a personal friend to her. She loves the crown and she loves Antoinette. But she also lives in revolutionary France and wants to do the right thing. Those two facts cannot coexist. Her nobility (having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals) is at odds with her nobility (belonging to a hereditary class with high social or political status; aristocratic).
Much like Antoinette, Oscar is only well meaning and good natured, however the privilege she was born into is blinding her to the truth of the people. However, unlike Antoinette, she is proactive in going out and trying to solve problems, which opens her eyes to the truth. Oscar's main character arc is about learning how the people of France are suffering, and sometimes the issue is much more complicated than "take your kid to the doctor when he is sick" even though that SHOULD be the right thing to do. In the end, she has to choose between the people of France and her beloved queen, and although it goes against everything she has followed her whole life, she cares more about doing what is right than her personal attachments.
It's particularly interesting because her close friend and love interest, Andre, is not of noble blood like she is. He is a servant to her family. He began to side with the people much sooner than her because he is one of them, and it was partially his influence that opened her eyes to the people's plight and influenced her to choose them over her queen. He raises the idea that perhaps theft isn't a bad thing when you're starving, which Oscar as the lawful good naturally disagrees with, because when you've never wanted for anything it is easy to believe all theft is inherently wrong. However, Andre's views on the subject stick with her, causing her to spare the thief and getting the ball rolling on Oscar's character arc culminating in her siding with the proletariat. Who would have thought that knowing a member of an oppressed minority will open your eyes to the plight of their people and change how you think?
There's also the matter of gender, which is probably the most talked-about aspect of the series. I was actually expecting much more gender discussion within the show based on how much people talk about, but that doesn't mean there is nothing to chew on. Oscar was born female and raised as a man, but she seems to identify and live as a woman. This is particularly interesting to me because everyone simultaneously sees her as a woman and respects her authority (until she joins the French Guard, anyways, but even then she wins them over). That hardly seems historically accurate to me, but again, I wasn't expecting historical accuracy. Anyway, the presentation of Oscar's gender is interesting because she seems to be seen as either a woman or a man by most, but what she wants is for people to simultaneously respect her masculinity and femininity. She didn't want to join the royal guard because she wanted to live as a woman, but then she desires to return to living as a man when she has her heart broken by the only man she felt (at the time) she could love the way a woman does, bringing into question what gender means for romance. This upsets Andre, who loves her the way a man does a woman. This causes a lot of distress for both of them, and causes Andre to...well, do something bad. I don't have time to get into it here, but I will say that I think it's a little more complicated than it may seem at first and perhaps possible to come back from when you factor in nuance and personal forgiveness, though I don't excuse it. Anyways, the point is that gender stuff is all rather progressive in how complex it presents its issues of gender, especially for the 1970s, and definitely adds an extra layer of complexity to the story.
Although, in spite of being rather nuanced and complex in some areas, it's also rather shallow in others. Most of the characters tend to be very black-and-white with their morality, being innocent victims or devilishly evil. While I appreciate Oscar's arc of choosing the people over the queen, she generally spends most of the series exclusively doing nothing wrong. The story is VERY sympathetic to Antoinette, whereas the people in Antoinette's life who are out to get her haven't a shred of sympathy. There's this one character named Rosalie who could have been rather complex as she was very driven by revenge almost to the point of violence, but it doesn't amount to much in the end and she spends most of her screentime being a poor little victim (apparently she was written out of the manga for being unpopular. I see why). Andre is probably the most complex given the aforementioned bad thing he did, but all that did was make him a character you either love or hate. Anyhow, I wasn't expecting extraordinarily deep characters from a 70s anime and do generally like the characters, but it definitely does not work in the series's favor.
All in all though, I enjoyed all 40 episodes of this show that I watched. It's great at appealing to your pathos with its characters and drama as well as presenting effective commentary on class struggle. It is absolutely worth the watch, both for the historical significance (it changed the entire anime and manga industries, after all) and because it's just damn good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
![]()
Jan 27, 2025
Sound of the Sky is a manga based on an anime of the same name, and it runs into every problem that anime-to-manga adaptations do.
In a vacuum, this manga is fine. It tells a good story about love and war and music that I think is extremely valuable. However, being only 16 chapters (yes, 16; I do not know why it says 19) it tends to breeze through parts of the story it would have been better to slow down and focus on. This is particularly egregious when you compare it to the much better pacing of the original anime that actually does lend time
...
to these important moments.
The artwork is fine, but it can feel somewhat stiff at times—not to mention the out-of-place fanservice (which the original didn't have). And while it is a story about music, it does not have any music you can hear, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it leaves out the key piece of information that the story's leitmotif is supposed to be Amazing Grace—as no one ever names it—and I would say that's rather important for a story about the trauma, guilt, and redemption of soldiers.
It's still Sound of the Sky, so it's still an extremely beautiful and important story, so I'll give it a 7/10. If you don't like watching anime, I would recommend this manga. But if you do, then you really have no reason to read this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Jan 6, 2025
One of the biggest inspirations for Hellsing, cited by the mangaka, is Trigun—which can be seen clearly in how Alucard's design reflects that of Vash the Stampede. This puzzles me, because Trigun is about how we should always strive for peace in spite of how difficult it is, and Hellsing is about how cool it is to rip people in half and watch them bleed.
Seriously, that's what the characters in Hellsing spend 80% of the show doing. There is no downtime. You never get a break from the relentless blood and gore. Now, to be fair, I'm not the biggest fan of action scenes, but
...
I also really like gore in anime, so it's saying something that I got bored by how much of it there was. In simple terms, it felt excessive and gratuitous. Gore is most effective if you take the time to build up to it, getting to know the characters it happens to in great detail first. With Hellsing it just feels pointlessly edgy for the sake of it, and I can hardly care about the gore because I didn't get enough time to know the characters it was happening to.
This is a shame, because I think the characters could be very interesting. Alucard is badass and mysterious (if overpowered), Seras is cute and endearing (although I...hate the way her chest is drawn), and Integra is the coolest woman to ever exist (though I may be blinded by my massive crush on her). Unfortunately we barely get any time with them because most of the series is just gory action scenes.
Anyways, it's not just the gore that's gratuitous. Hellsing also features a fair bit of sexual violence that adds nothing to the story. Thankfully there's nowhere near as much rape as there is gore, but it could legitimately be removed without consequence. Even moreso than the gore it feels like it is only present just to be vulgar and explicit. And I'm not here with a torch and pitchfork claiming it's immoral to indulge in blood and rape in media just because you like to be fucked up and edgy, but I am saying it's boring. Not only is it tactless, but it just isn't interesting.
Furthermore, the villains of this show are the Nazis, and the funny thing about that is it's very hard to do wrong. Everyone knows Nazis are evil so they make for a very cut and dry villain that is hard to mess up. Yet, somehow, Hellsing managed to screw it up at every single possible opportunity.
Nazis were real. They killed twelve million people in a eugenic attempt to wipe out minorities. All of those people were brutalized and had their lives cut short. And in Hellsing, one of the main antagonists is a Nazi catboy who does silly catboy things and is leered at by the camera. Of course.
Mixing the supernatural with the Nazis is, in my opinion, not really the way to go. Nazis are real and vampires are not. However Hellsing is almost impressive with how it flagrantly disregards how real of a threat the Nazis were with how it presents them here like cartoon supervillains consisting of eccentric supernatural creatures. Like sexy catboys. Whatever man.
All in all, it's just ten hours of sexed up gore, rape, and silly Nazis that doesn't use any of those factors to say anything interesting and feels as though it were written by a middle schooler in an attempt to write a edgier story than their friend. I guess what I mean is I just don't see the point to any of it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Jan 2, 2025
Blood-C is a dumb garbage series that thinks blood and gore and guts and stuff automatically equals good horror.
Okay, that's mean. But I really cannot drive home enough that this series's top priority is grossing the viewer out with gore first because it assumes that blood and guts is enough to make for effective horror. Blood-C is not scary. In fact, for most of the show, the episodes spend the majority of their time as slice of life school shenanigans before abruptly ending in a bloody action scene that wasn't built up to with suspense or mystery or anything that can make gory scenes scary.
...
You need tension to be scared. The gore in Blood-C has no suspense or tension, so it's just gross at best. Scary is not the same thing as disgusting.
Not that it's impossible to balance slice of life and horror—Higurashi is famous for it, after all. Except Higurashi weaves suspense and tension into its SOL segments, and it takes time to make it clear something dark and mysterious is lurking in the background of peaceful summer days in the small town, with eyes watching you and secrets being kept, so that way when it eventually culminates into a bloody scene, it feels earned—payoff for the setup it spends episodes establishing. Blood-C tries to do something similar, but any hints of sinister mystery only happen during the bloody action scenes at the end of the episode, which each episode does not take time any time building to. The SOL segments and the gory segments feel like they're from two different shows entirely.
This means the slice of life segments are painfully boring, and pretty much nothing happens for the first half of the show besides a few lore drops. Perhaps it would be more effective if the characters were charming and likeable, but alas! They all suck total ass.
Well, the main character—Saya—is rather endearing with her ditzy yet deeply compassionate nature, and her father has some good moments too. All of her school friends and other trusted adults though? They're boring as sin and do nothing to make me emotionally invested in them. They're all extremely basic character archetypes and we never get to learn who they are outside of those basic archetypes. Then there's a big twist at the end which kills any possible investment in them for...reasons that will make total sense if you watch it.
I don't want to spoil it, but I will say this: because it is a horror series, characters will die. And I feel nothing when these characters die except perhaps mild schadenfreude because the show never endeared them to me by having me learn who they really were. I know nothing of their hopes and dreams and hobbies. They spend all of their time on screen acting like one-dimsensional tropes and not real people who I should care about. And, as I said before, the big twist just kills anything they had going for them.
The worst offenders are the twins, who are a terrible case of identical twins acting like the same person (I have known a lot of identical twins and none of them have ever acted like this) and are also generally just terrible, unsympathetic people. Absolutely worthless, garbage characters I could not care less about.
When characters die, I'm supposed to care. When blood and gore takes up the screen, I'm supposed to be frightened. But the only emotion Blood-C invokes in me is boredom.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Nov 17, 2024
"When I said take me to the moon,
I never meant take me alone
I thought if mankind toured the stars
it meant that all of us could go."
- Penelope Scott, Rät
The premise of Promare is simple. 30 years ago, some people randomly developed fire powers and are now an oppressed minority group (called the "burnish" here). It's a plot I'm sure you've seen before, especially if you've ever engaged with a single piece of X-Men media. However the way it approaches its plot surprised me with how much depth and nuance they were able to pack into a two hour action flick.
The main character of the
...
story is a young man named Galo. He is a very proud, passionate young man who carries nothing but love and kindness in his heart, so he dedicates his time to protecting the city as part of a special force meant to apprehend burnish terrorists. He's very charming with how passionate he is about doing the right thing. However, he's also a perfect character for this story because of one thing: unconscious bias.
Most people would not consider themselves bigoted. In fact, most people would be offended at the idea they could be. And this is the problem. People who are granted privilege by society are often blind to what that privilege grants them as well as the reality of life for many minority groups, because they have never had to see that reality. Unlike minorities, they are capable of living in an echochamber that shields them from the truth of this world, and that's exactly what they do. This makes them susceptible to holding biases against these groups that even they are unaware of. They aren't aware of the fact that being kind and loving other people does not make you exempt from saying and doing discriminatory things.
Galo gets offended when other people say all burnish are terrorists, yet when he knowingly talks to a burnish for the first time ever, he asks them if they need to eat as if they aren't human. He very clearly thinks of himself as Not Bigoted in regards to the burnish, yet he works for a police-esque group meant to suppress the burnish. As far as he is concerned, he's just catching terrorists because some burnish are terrorists even if it's not all of them, but he is completely ignoring the reality that this "terrorist" group is really just fighting for burnish rights and they have to resort to violence because it is the only way to make a difference. He thinks that if the burnish simply stopped being violent people would stop discriminating against them, because he lives in a happy, privileged world where everything is black and white.
It is only through going out and meeting the burnish personally that he has his eyes opened, and it is because of that kindness and love he carries with him that his eyes are able to open. Empathy is an important skill to have, however it requires you to go out and actively try to use it. It cannot radicalize you if you never apply it.
And thus from then on is a "broken pedestal" plot where he has to reckon with the fact that everything he held dear is actually a corrupt system meant to exploit and kill the burnish, and the man he idolized is very specifically exploiting the burnish for the benefit of only the "elite" of society.
When the world ends, the rich are never around for it. They flee to space, to a private island, to anywhere other than here. Just how many spots are available on that ship? And just how many can afford them?
I will say that the allegory isn't perfect (largely for a spoiler reason, but you could argue that anytime an allegorical minority actually does have something different about them that makes them dangerous it doesn't work), but I still felt like it worked well enough.
Anyways, social commentary aside, the rest of the movie is good too.
As expected of Trigger, the animation is absolutely delectable. I wasn't even that bored watching the action scenes because of how pretty they were!
As for the other characters, the second most important character is Lio, the leader of the radical group. He serves as a good foil for Galo. Aina and her sister do well to add to the commentary (prioritizing your personal desires over doing what's right). The rest of the characters were also nice, if a bit underdeveloped, although that's to be expected with only a two hour runtime. It prioritizes action over character development, but it still managed to pack in enough character development to work.
And of course, I can't complete this review without mentioning Gurrenn Lagann. The movie obviously bears a lot of similarities to Gurrenn Lagann because it was clearly made to be TTGL's spiritual successor, but that's certainly not a bad thing. They took exactly what made TTGL work and did something brand new with it in a way that does all of the same things right but still manages to feel fresh and interesting. It also seems to have paved the way for Trigger's later show BNA, which would have many of the same elements of social commentary, and that's definitely a good thing as well.
Trigger definitely knows what it likes in its projects, and all of Trigger's signatures shine through in Promare in the best way possible.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Nov 12, 2024
"The war ended. You're just the last remnant. Humanity...the world can never regain the glory it once had. So end it. It must be far too painful, living a miserable life in a world filled with despair. Is there some meaning to survival in a world like this?"
It's easy to write Sound of the Sky off as a military flavored K-On clone, and I certainly see where that assertion might come from, but I am here to tell you how very wrong that is. Sound of the Sky is not just a military themed show about moe and music, but a story of recovery, companionship,
...
finding purpose in life, the universal healing power of music, and the horrors of war.
The thing about Sound of the Sky is that, as a slice of life, it is very slow moving. It takes time to savor its setting and characters while it slowly eases you into the meat of what it's about. It works perfectly for the genre and is highly effective. If you are a fan of slice of life stories, you should have no problem taking it slow and taking time for the story's themes to resonate with you.
The story is about a young girl named Kanata who joins the military of her country, Helvetia, because when she was young she saw a solider playing Amazing Grace on the bugle, and it changed her life. She became a solider because she too wanted to learn how to play such a beautiful song of hope and healing, and in this society, no one else will teach her how to play.
That's right, she joins the army not as a solider but as an artist. She didn't go into this wanting to fight for her country or bring violence onto other human beings. Remember that. It is an important fact for later.
She is stationed in a lovely town called Seize with a platoon of other young woman around her age. Seize is a small, peaceful community that did not face the brunt of the war Helvetia has recently come out of. As you can expect, being stationed in a place like this means that not much happens, leading to the perfect setup for a bunch of cute anime girls to hang out together and do cute things.
Except here's the thing: Sound of the Sky does not forget that its characters are soldiers.
The show spends its first six episodes slowly introducing you to the characters and world. It ruminates on its setting and war-laden times of its world. Amidst showing off what the characters care about and examining the little things that make life worth living, it gives small glimpses into the horrors of the world these characters are accustomed to. Due to war in the past, most of the world is now uninhabitable. There is no longer life in the sea. Society was so irreparably screwed over that, while the languages are still the same, countries and cultures are entirely different.
There is something inherently beautiful about a slice of life set in a post apocalyptic world—about finding meaning in a world already destroyed and making it your home again anyways. The world ended but we're still here. Things might look grim but we will find a reason to keep living, even if its only little things like glass animal figurines or lighting fireworks with your friends.
And then episode seven happens, and the show gives all that it has to challenge that idea. Kanata did not join the army as a solider, but the other members of her platoon did. So the show displays the truth of being a solider and the pain and the death, and amidst all of that it begs the question of why? Why keep going on in a world like this?
And Sound of the Sky answers that question. If there is no reason to go on, make one yourself, and you'll probably find it in the people who love you.
It doesn't stop at episode seven, however. The end of the show leans hard into the military aspect, and it isn't shy about showing what being in the military means. Kanata did not join the military as a solider, but she is one and she will have to be one when duty calls. It sets up a kind, empathetic premise about connecting with someone from an opposing culture and opinion and then tears that to shreds with the truth of being in the military.
"As a solider, I have killed people too. So even if no one else forgives you, I will."
But, in the end, things settle. This too shall pass—even war. And when the dust has settled, you look at the damage that has been done, and you rebuild. You mourn what has been lost forever and then you rebuild anyways. It started as a slice of life and it will end as one, even after asking us why we continue to live and laying bare for us the reality of war.
And what do the soldiers hear in their direst of times that gives them the motivation they need to keep going and bring an end to the fighting—the motivation to reach a point where things have settled? None other than the Christian hymn that started it all.
The world ended, but humans are still here. The world ended, but we still speak the same languages. The world ended, but people still play Amazing Grace around the world.
And there's nothing more I can say that these parting words will not:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Nov 12, 2024
Smells Like Green Spirit (named for the Nirvana song, which is appropriate for a coming of age story, although I don't know where 'green' comes from) is something most BL manga cannot ever aspire to be: real. SLGS accurately represents what it is like to be queer in a small town as recent as even ten years ago, where everyone has their eyes on you and expects you to be what they want you to be.
The main character is one of those kids who, while never having "come out," is obviously gay and everyone knows it. By the time the story starts, he has resigned
...
himself to taking the bullying and harassment because that's just how it goes—a sad truth represented right on the page. Things start to change, however, when he realizes that one of his main bullies might not be so different from him.
From there is a very honest look into what it is like to come of age as a queer person—especially a young gay man—in an unsafe place, finding love and happiness and themselves amidst all of the pain and struggling.
This manga is a romance, but it makes the really interesting choice of having the main couple not consist of the leads. Rather, they remain just friends throughout, and the main character's love interest is someone else entirely (who is also going through many of the same struggles in his own way). This is an unconventional choice, but it's one I appreciated. Oftentimes, friendship is more important than romance—especially during such a difficult time in one's life when they're struggling to figure themselves out, and what they really need is a friend who understands them.
It also takes the time to acknowledge the overlap between gay men and transgender women that does and has always existed. The two communities have never been separate and never will be, and a lot of people find themselves identifying with both—similar to lesbians and transgender men. Obviously not everyone will identify with both—there are gay men who are not genderqueer in the slightest and homosexual transgender women—but there *is* an overlap, and seeing that represented here is really important and special.
Also, fair warning, this manga has a very bittersweet ending, and that may be a controversial decision to some, but I think it's perfect. This manga is grounded and realistic, and it is not afraid to shy away from the painful truths of the queer experience, even if it also shows the happiness that can be found in it. Not every queer person gets a happy ending. Sometimes a queer person finds themself and who they are but they have to resign themself to a life of unhappiness because of outside factors. Many queer people sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of other people, and seeing that in the ending of this manga may be a tough pill to swallow, but it's the perfect conclusion.
There's one main reason I haven't rated this manga higher, however. There's something of a sexual predation problem amongst gay men because, well, gay men are certainly still men, and I could go into detail about socialization and the patriarchy to explain why men tend to commit sex crimes but I am not going to assume you are stupid and need it explained to you. The point is, it happens and it sucks. This manga seems to propose that the reason for the problem has to due with matters of homophobia, and while I am open to that idea, I am a bit soured on it due to how this manga presents it.
Sexual assault is very important to the middle of this manga's story. I respect it for trying to address such a pressing issue in this society, as addressing societal issues seems to be the main goal of this manga, however I don't think it handles it with tact and grace. It's decently graphic, and once it's over the story moves on from it much too quickly in my opinion. It is almost entirely about the assaulter and not the victim, and I think telling stories about assaulters is still important, but the victimhood of the character he assaults is essentially disregarded for the sake of proposing society is the reason he molests young boys. I might have been willing to listen to that last point, but I'm not in the mood to be open to it when presented in a rather tactless way. The mangaka then went on to make a spinoff manga about the attempted rapist, by the way.
All in all though, this is a very poignant, thoughtful read that represents queer issues much better than most BL I've seen, and I would really recommend it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Oct 24, 2024
I’m In Love With The Villainess is a take on both the villainess and GL genres that is equal parts refreshing as it is frustrating.
IILWTV has a very specific target audience in mind, and that is queer women, but specifically lesbians. This is one of those shows that you are probably going to like this show a lot more if you are part of the target demographic. Let’s talk about that.
When this show first aired, it picked up a lot of steam for its representation—for how simultaneously explicit and unique it was. In particular, there was a lot of discussion about how it very openly
...
discussed homosexuality and how realistically it represented the lesbian experience, and I have to agree. Now, I don’t usually like to disclose my identity in reviews because I don’t think it should matter, but for the sake of clarity, I will say this: yes, I am a lesbian, and I can attest to the fact that it does in fact very realistically represent a lot of the lesbian experience, and I love and appreciate it for that. However, I also think this is the show’s strongest point, so if you are not in the target demographic and thus won’t feel it as deeply as those who are, you’re probably going to get a lot less out of this show.
When talking about the show's open discussion of homosexuality, one scene was making the rounds on social media. One thing that happens in this scene is the villainess, Claire, being told that she cannot be uncomfortable around the protagonist, Rae, just because she’s a lesbian. This is a very good message I’m glad to see in a show. However…
Listen, if you had me guess why Claire was uncomfortable around Rae, I wouldn’t guess that it’s just because Rae is a lesbian. Rae is very openly in love with Claire and wants to make sure everyone knows, and while I think it can be funny at times, I think it can also read as harassment.
Now, I know for certain that Claire’s negative reaction to Rae’s constant professions of love aren’t just because they’re unwanted advances. Claire falls in love with Rae and does it pretty quickly, in my opinion, so I fully believe that a lot of her seeming discomfort is rather internalized homophobia and projection. And this is another aspect of the queer experience that I greatly appreciate seeing on screen. However, just like before, if it’s not an experience that resonates with you, seeing her pretty frequently and obviously turn Rae down in a way that reads as discomfort will likely make *you* uncomfortable as well.
Granted, their relationship also has a lot of merit that I think is really beautiful if you look past the exterior. They have a lot of sweet moments and Claire really develops as a character as she comes into her queer identity, reckons with her feelings, and lets herself be loved. While Rae may be a bit too forward with it, it really does warm the heart to see Claire be so genuinely loved after a life of typical rich kid loneliness, and then to also see her accept it.
I’m willing to give it a lot of leniency because I know what it’s going for and, as part of the target demographic, am able to feel seen in it. But I understand why most people wouldn’t be able to do that.
And it’s not just the romance but the rest of the show that’s like this. Frankly there’s just a lot of anime bullshit in this show—including a random incest jumpscare! Great. Awesome. I wanted to see that for sure. The art and animation is a little off, the comedy is very hit or miss, and the way it seems to be pretty uncritical of the monarchy and nobility just really isn’t for me—although I am fully aware that it is a fantasy comedy TV show so it doesn’t have to realistically comment on it. Just like with the romance, it really boils down to personal preference and what you're willing to both look past and appreciate.
You will take away from it what you choose to. I chose to take away a sweet love story that I can see myself in, but not everybody can or will be able to. And that’s okay. I just think you should really think about what you might take away from the show before choosing to watch it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Oct 24, 2024
In 1985, the manga "Banana Fish" by Akimi Yoshida would begin serialization in Bessatsu Shoujo Comic. It would run for 9 years, totaling 110 chapters and 19 volumes, establishing itself as a pioneer of the BL genre despite keeping the relationship between the male leads ambiguous. In 2018, this legendary manga finally hit the silver screen with a condensed adaptation updated to a modern day setting done by MAPPA, finally bringing this iconic and influential plot to wide audiences.
And that plot is...frustrating.
Like most early BL, Banana Fish is a story of tragedy. It is a tale of bad things happening to young men who never
...
get to be happy. And it feels...sensationalized.
Human beings have a fascination with pain and trauma. We pack it into our stories for the catharsis of enjoying the drama and the emotions of these traumatic things in a contained environment where nothing bad actually happens—much like the feeling of fear on a rollercoaster. I don't necessarily think that's wrong, but it can easily become tactless and insensitive with the way it appears to derive pleasure from seeing things that deeply traumatize real people every day—and Banana Fish is a shining example.
The trauma in Banana Fish feels so overwhelmingly self-indulgent. It is horrible and disturbing, yet here the audience is, relishing in it. I'm not going to beat around the bush here; the trauma in question is mostly sexual abuse— a lot of it, and to a young victim. It is the most upsetting type of trauma here in the real world, and when I see it in Banana Fish, it doesn't feel to me as though it was written to tell a meaningful story about trauma, its effects, and what in this society allows it to happen, but because audiences simply want to see it happen and enjoy the drama it creates so long as there's no real victim. And that feels tasteless.
Furthermore, the victim in question has me skeptical.
The character facing this severe sexual abuse is one Ash Lynx (real name: Aslan Callenreese—yes, like the Jesus lion from Narnia), and...well, before I get into the rest of his character, let's just address the main factor here: he is male.
Yes, sexual abuse happens to men. It happens every day—much more often than one might think. And it's terrible. However, it's important to recognize that men and women tend to face different kinds of sexual violence due to the inherent subjugation of women in this patriarchal society and how rape is often used as a gendered weapon against them (remember, rape is more about power than about sex, and who do men typically exert power over?). Here's the problem: the sexual violence Ash repeatedly faces is the kind usually faced by women in real life. He's treated as this irresistibly sexy lolita in a way that turns the head of every creepy older man in the vicinity. All eyes are on him and they expect him to put out at all times with his pretty blond hair and green eyes and slender body, regardless of whether he wants to. This is more believable during his stint in prison, but outside of it? I can only suspend my disbelief so far. Both the narrative and the other characters treat him like a woman on the topic of sex and rape.
In fact, there's one scene where another male character gets sexually harassed at a gay bar and comments "I understand how women feel now." Ash replies, "now you know how I feel." ...What? Moreover, a lot of this sexual abuse happens in mafia-run trafficking rings, which is perfectly realistic, except for the fact the mafia seems to be selling *exclusively young boys.* When the news breaks, the reporter says they were caught selling young boys to the rich elite. Not "children"—*boys.* This is, frankly, inane. Not only is that just now how it works in real life, but I cannot imagine how much money that mafia would be losing by not having girls on their market. I can imagine a mafia sex trafficking ring including some boys, because there would definitely be demand, but there is and will always be more of a demand for girls. That is simply how it works
Not only is all of this unrealistic, but it is essentially ignoring the subjugation of women for the sake of getting catharsis out of women's oppression happening to a man.
There are hilariously few female characters in this show, and they’re essentially all family members of the main cast. You know that?
Now, the sexual abuse he faced as a prepubescent child does hold some more ground in terms of realism, and I think it would be acceptable in a vaccuum, but it doesn't exist in a vaccuum. It exists in the context of a story where this remarkably beautiful teenage boy faces rapist after rapist after rapist from the age of eight onwards and it never stops, which just feels so illogically cruel. It's not just that he's objectified like a woman, but that the constant onslaught of assault is immersion breaking. I'd buy it more if it were happening to a woman, but even then it might still lose me.
And there's more when it comes to this character that feels indulgent. Ash Lynx is not just irresistibly sexy. He's an irresistibly sexy white 17 year old who seems to control organized crime in NYC despite being both white and 17. They even lampshade the fact he somehow has gangs of every race under his control despite being some white kid. Just because you point it out, that doesn't make you exempt from any criticism. I am well aware this story wasn't written by an American, but that lampshading goes to show the author seems to have at least *some* understanding of race relations in American crime, and yet they choose to willfully ignore it because their sexy traumatized teenager needs to be super cool and powerful.
And that's not the only problem with race in this show. For a show about gang violence in not just America but *New York City,* you'd really expect there to be a lot more brown people—well, brown people integral to the plot who get treated as fully realized characters, that is. I won’t spoil anything, but there's one black character who is so much of a plot device for the pretty white blondie I had to stop and ask myself if they really just wrote that.
The main cast is full of white and east asian people, but that’s it. Setting aside any possible complaints of racism, it’s just plain unrealistic.
And I also just do not buy his age. He's 17? Really? I don't believe it. I don't believe a 17 year old kid could be that powerful, nor do I believe he acts like a 17 year old. I was 17 once. Neither I nor anyone I knew acted like that. Granted, we weren't working in the criminal underworld, but there's only so far that can take someone. If I had to hazard a guess as to his age I'd assume he was in his early twenties, which I fully think he should have been written as. I also think early twenties is still stretching it for how powerful he is, but it wouldn't necessarily make me raise an eyebrow.
Oh yeah, not only is this white guy way in control of every gang in NYC, but he's underage too. Yeah, sure I believe that. And I believe this character was written this way for an important narrative purpose and not just because audiences wanted to see bad things happen to a sexy white teenager who is really cool and powerful and capable despite all of the debilitating trauma.
By the way, did I mention he’s also a genius? Yeah. Bonafide child prodigy. IQ over 200 (even though IQ tests aren’t actually a proper reading of intelligence and weren’t meant to be used that way). Math expert and super hacker. Because of course. Why wouldn’t he be?
I'm also going to be completely honest and say that, despite being considered a pioneer of the BL genre, it can come off as...honestly somewhat homophobic. Homosexuality seems to only physically occur so pedophiles can prey on Ash, and it occurs strangely often—way too often for me to buy it. Seriously, the amount of creepy older men who prey on him reaches levels that are almost laughable with how cartoonishly traumatic it is. It's the kind of sexual trauma that could only realistically happen to a woman and even then it's pushing it. I don't think there is any explicit representation of homosexuality that isn't in the case of an evil rapist pedophile, and with how weirdly common these gay pedophilic rapists are, it feels like a pattern.
Granted, there's also the relationship between Ash and Eiji, but it's also...the relationship between Ash and Eiji. It is homoerotic, sure, and the author no doubt intended for it to be read romantically—which is why people consider Banana Fish a piece of BL history—but it's still left ambiguous. They act like lovers, but they're not. Those evil homosexuals all put their filthy hands on Ash, but his vaguely homosexual relationship with Eiji is pure and platonic. Did the author...intend for it to read like gay sex is evil? Did it have to be like this? Was this not a change in adaptation that we could have made? I’m not even saying you have to make their relationship more explicit (although that would also have worked), but just…could you not do anything to avoid implying gay sex is some kind of inherent perverted evil?
(And remember, all of those evil homosexuals are ugly and old, but Ash and Eiji are pretty teenage boys).
Let's compare this to another anime of similar circumstances: Devilman Crybaby. Just like Banana Fish, Devilman Crybaby is an adaption of a historically significant queer manga centering the intimate relationship between two men amidst the politics, updating the classic plot to a modern day setting for audiences in 2018. However, it did something Banana Fish did not do, which was take into account how the politics needed to be updated along with the setting so the story could mean to modern audiences what it did to audiences 40/50 years ago. It added additional positive depictions of homosexual relationships and sex to further their updated political views while still keeping the non-explicit yet still clearly romantic nature of the relationship between the male leads.
What I mean is that it was entirely possible for Banana Fish to fix some of its pitfalls in the adaptation process, but it didn’t.
And then there's the ending. Obviously I won't spoil it, but anyone who has heard of Banana Fish has heard the ending invokes lots of emotions in people. All I will say is this: I find the ending to send a message that is completely irresponsible and downright incorrect. It's a message that is very personal to me as someone who has experienced something similar, and I will say that it upsets me—and this is not because it invoked the emotions in me that it was aiming to. I didn't feel the expected emotions because I was too busy feeling upset and hurt about the message it seemed to be sending that is actually applicable to *me* and *my* life experiences.
Banana Fish is pain and trauma and tragedy simply for the sake of it. It is nothing but bad things happening to people who never wanted it and don’t deserve it because wouldn’t it be fucked up if that happened? It’s gratuitous and ostentatious.
I love a tragic hero (in the literary sense), but a hero is only tragic if everything is *their* fault. If your hero only does bad things because they were forced into a life they never wanted and they still try to avoid doing bad things to people who don’t deserve it, then the bad things that happen to them as a consequence of their actions aren’t earned. It’s not tragedy for a reason; it’s tragedy for the sake of relishing in and indulging in it. Now, if you’re not going for “tragic hero” with the tragedy and are instead trying to send the message of “isn’t society so fucked up that it allowed this to happen?” I would understand and probably even get behind it (compare Riyoko Ikeda’s Claudine, another historically significant queer manga that ends similarly and has a similar main character). But it’s not. It’s for appealing to the heart and nothing more.
Here's the thing. The manga was written during a time when Japan was growing increasingly fascinated by urban America, and it shows. It was written during the early days of the BL genre full of rape and tragedy and ambiguity, and it shows. Banana Fish is not something easily removed from its time period.
I can excuse a lot of these criticisms of the manga for how progressive and influential it was for its time (nearly 40 years ago as of when I write this). But because of that, I don't think it should have gotten a modern adaptation—especially not one where they updated the setting to modern day too. You can tell the plot was written in a time before modern technology, because with cellphones in the picture the plot becomes a lot less believable—not to mention the outdated politics of it all. If they were going to make this, they should have made it a period piece. It's not a story that lends itself well to the modern day.
I respect the Banana Fish manga for making waves for its time and changing its genre. I respect it as a historically significant work that made a lot of progress in the 80s. However, I also think it should have stayed in the 80s.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Oct 21, 2024
There’s no question that Given is *the* BL anime of the modern era. It is the most watched BL on MAL, constantly tops popularity polls, and whenever anyone these days gives BL recommendations, the first thing you hear is Given, Given, Given.
It’s also disappointing.
Here’s the thing: Given is a drama. It takes itself extremely seriously, so I will take it extremely seriously as well, and thus come to the conclusion that it is not as deep and intelligent as it markets itself as.
Now, Given isn’t bad. It’s a competent story and the relationship between the leads, Ritsuka and Mafuyu, is well done. They had
...
good chemistry, their relationship was well developed, and I liked how the top was the awkward and inexperienced one paired up with a more self-assured and experienced bottom. It’s a more refreshing take on tired tropes. However, Given is not just a romance, but as I stated before, a romantic drama, and it is in the drama where the problem lies.
There is one main source of drama in this show: grief. (I don’t consider this a spoiler, but if you want to go in blind, stop reading now). Mafuyu, the love interest, is grieving. Very specifically he is grieving his late boyfriend who killed himself.
And that? That’s something. In fact, it was why I wanted to watch the show to begin with. It has so much potential to be a very grounded and deep story about not just grief, but the very specific trauma of losing someone to suicide. There’s so much room there for it to be such a meaningful story about processing trauma and recovery.
And…well, I can’t say it’s *not* that, but I will say that I don’t think it’s enough. The way it addresses this clear trauma is very skin deep, and it feels almost like set dressing. It’s there, and Mafuyu clearly thinks about it regularly, but we don’t really get to see any introspection or reflection on his feelings, let alone the nasty effects that kind of trauma inherently has.
You wanna know something? Yuki, Mafuyu’s late boyfriend, didn’t just kill himself. He killed himself after the two had an argument, and then Mafuyu was the one who found his body.
It needs more. It needs more introspection—about how personally hurt he is, how he simultaneously blames both himself and Yuki, how he hates himself for causing this but hates Yuki for doing this to him, how he still gets flashbacks of finding the body, how he still loves Yuki despite all of that—just...*something.*
But we don’t get anything like that. It’s a trauma that inherently causes a storm of conflicting emotions and negative effects, and we don’t see anything like that. We just know he’s grieving, and it’s sad.
And remember, this isn’t just a drama, but a romantic drama. Dating again while you’re still grieving your old partner is difficult and complicated, so it *should* come with a lot of reflection on the trauma and grief, but in Given, it doesn’t. Mafuyu is grieving and sad but he never talks about his feelings, shows any nasty side effects of the trauma, or lets it affect his new relationship.
I say this as someone who has some personal experience with this subject, because it feels to me like the author does not. There was so much potential for it to be extremely meaningful, but it just comes off like it was added for pathos.
That’s my only real hangup with these 12 episodes. As I said, the story is competent and the main romance is well developed (although, I would not have put their first kiss during the one time Mafuyu was grieving the *most* lmao. Like, what?).
In this first season, the beta couple is also fine, although this does only apply to this first season. I’ll warn you now, the first movie is focused on the beta couple, and it includes the infuriating BL trope of a character being sexually assaulted by his love interest. In fact, it’s worse than a lot of other BL that play the assault as sexy and romantic, because Given fully plays the assault for drama—presenting it as horrifying and upsetting—but then the victim still chooses to forgive the perpetrator and they end up together in the end. I'm not saying it's impossible to pull something like that off (for example, I think The Rose of Versailles...kind of made it work—at least better than this) but it's *extremely* hard to do, and I think Given didn't do it well, with how the perpetrator's reasoning felt rather unfounded and he didn't seem nearly apologetic enough, not to mention they hardly even dwell on it. It was a really graphic scene of sexual assault too.
The review is marked as a 7/10 because it’s only for the first season (it’s easy to pretend the movie didn’t happen), but I thoroughly dislike the movie, so I’d probably give the manga a 6/10.
Not bad, but disappointing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
