net work error posted:

Patlabor 2 rocks hard

net work error posted:

I demand someone else watch the 2000 Boogiepop Phantom.

VideoTapir posted:

wolfs posted:

wait where’s the incest in grave of the fireflies

Dr. Killjoy posted:

worst take i've heard about a Ghibli movie since that viral tumblr post about how Spirited Way is about child trafficking

quote:

Nosaka: In fact, when it comes to reality, that boy isn’t such a romanticist. After all, he gets hungry too. But objectively speaking, Setsuko is four years old, the age when a girl looks the cutest. And a 14-to-15 years old boy is at the age when he’s becoming aware of his masculinity, ergo his ego. That kind of pair heads into a life that includes the two of them. There’s an obvious consanguineous relationship there. The only person he can exchange words with is his sister, but while there’s a strong blood-tie, he’s shut out from being able to lover her as a girl. His tension grows high–hence a sublimation takes place.

Lostconfused posted:

It's what the movie is about. The author of the story gave interviews about it.

https://iwatchanimebecauseprettycolors.wordpress.com/2016/12/13/animage-1987-interview-isao-takahata-and-akiyuki-nosaka-part-one/

Maya Fey posted:

in patlabor i liked how the big mechsuit's standard weapon is just an enormous revolver

Maya Fey posted:

apparently that's a thing in the book (based on the author's experiences?) but ghibli thankfully removed all that poo poo from there as far as i can tell

the difference in how the story is perceived is interesting, in Japan it's considered a sad double suicide story where instead of keeping their head down and working with the aunt that takes them in they decide to shun society instead and die, whereas in countries with more of an individualistic culture it's a war tragedy where they fail to make it

Lostconfused posted:

That's because Mamoru Oshii is very CSPAM

Just read one of his interviews here http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/oshii_on_mt.html

christmas boots posted:

But, as long as we're sharing hot takes about Grave of the Fireflies I remember a take someone on these forums had a year or two back that was that Grave of the Fireflies was right-wing and problematic because it depicted the bombing of Japan as a bad thing and asked the viewer to sympathize with citizens of a country that had been inflicting atrocities on China.

christmas boots posted:

I imagine the author has a lot of complicated feelings about what happened considered his sister died and he lived, and one of the major changes he made in the short story was that he killed off the character representing him as well.

But, as long as we're sharing hot takes about Grave of the Fireflies I remember a take someone on these forums had a year or two back that was that Grave of the Fireflies was right-wing and problematic because it depicted the bombing of Japan as a bad thing and asked the viewer to sympathize with citizens of a country that had been inflicting atrocities on China.

christmas boots posted:

I imagine the author has a lot of complicated feelings about what happened considered his sister died and he lived, and one of the major changes he made in the short story was that he killed off the character representing him as well.

But, as long as we're sharing hot takes about Grave of the Fireflies I remember a take someone on these forums had a year or two back that was that Grave of the Fireflies was right-wing and problematic because it depicted the bombing of Japan as a bad thing and asked the viewer to sympathize with citizens of a country that had been inflicting atrocities on China.

Toph Bei Fong posted:

Alright, so, thinking more about Gurren Lagann, what struck me was just how quietly leftist they are.

Now, don't get me wrong: this is not a treatise on Marxism or some grand statement on leftist thought. It's a series about gigantic robots hitting one another, and it leans into that hard. The robots literally run on the burning conviction and passion that the pilot and those watching will succeed, and much of the series is almost an anti-Evangelion in that it's about overcoming depression and learning to try again if you fail or make a mistake.

It's also nakedly about the positive aspects of masculinity, and how growing past a more primitive understanding of them is necessary for society to grow.


_{The team's home base literally has a gigantic erection all the time, for example.}

That said, something I noticed on reflection was that, unlike shows where the great and powerful protagonist is the greatest and most powerful in the world, and is the only one who can do what he does, in GL it is show repeatedly that collective action and trust in others are the only way to succeed, and that, to quote Bruce Springsteen, "Nobody wins, unless everybody wins". And incidentally, much of the early show is about stealing progressively larger mecha from the ruling class and using their tools against them.

We get glimpses of the collectivist themes in the early episodes, where Kamina refuses to do things unless Simon is brought along, how much more powerful their mecha are when they combine, and even how Kamina, the burning, passionate, typical shonen protagonist, trusts Simon's plan to defeat one of the enemies, despite it looking like he's running away they way he was chastised for a few episodes previous.

Probably the best example of it's praise of collective action comes from a story Simon tells about the time he and Kamina were trapped in a landslide. They're stuck, and don't know where they're going, and the only reason that Simon can keep digging is because Kamina is cheering and upbeat about how they're sure to succeed and can't possibly fail. A couple episodes later, Yoko says that she'd heard the same story from Kamina, but from his point of view: Kamina was terrified and scared that they were all going to die, but watching Simon diligently dig without ceasing gave him the confidence to keep going on, to try and be worthy of his blood brother's hard work. Without working together, they would be nothing.

And it's not even just the pair of them who are important. After episode eight, where Kamina dies, the show and movement keep going on. He was an important figurehead, and they'll never forget him, but he also wasn't the only reason they succeeded. In stark contrast to "chosen one" narratives, even Simon's great skill and power are repeatedly shown to be not enough to succeed on his own, and his function as an inspirational and aspirational figure is much more important. By driving others to be the best they can be, everyone working together can beat impossible odds. It's like a shonen version of the Stakhanovite movement (and, incidentally, Simon is literally a miner when the show starts).

The first big hit in the "Everyone Matters" theme is in episode five, where the team crashes into an underground village that practices strict population control. Their leader, a creepy priest guy, has determined that the village cannot sustain more than a hundred people, and if there is an excess, those people must be sacrificed to the enemy mecha, who they worship. It's very anti-religion. As one might guess, our heroes take along with them the two kids who were 101 and 102, rather than letting them die, and also pick up Rossiu, the priest's adopted son. Before Rossiu leaves, he has a long conversation with his adopted father, who tells him the truth about everything: how he can't even read the book he constantly carries around, how he was only trying to keep his people safe, how the enemy is awful but will kill them if they try to rebel... and we get the sense that, despite having made some horrible decisions, this isn't a bad or malicious person, merely someone who came to the wrong conclusions. If he simply told the truth, rather than taking on all the responsibility himself, it's likely the village would pull together and provide for all, rather than being tricked into giving up on some of it's members.

Then, in episode fifteen we finally battle the Spiral King, the leader of the enemy forces that have kept humanity trapped underground. And, it turns out, that he was once a heroic kid just like Simon, who battled an even larger enemy, and fell into a deep depression when he came to the conclusion that he could never beat them. He instead turned on his allies, returned to his home planet, and conquered it, keeping the populace trapped underground where, at least, they could live and be safe from the greater threat. It's the same as in the village from episode five, but writ on a planetary scale: some people have to be given up on and a great lie told, in order to keep people safe.

And then, in episode twenty, it happens again. Rossiu's plan to evacuate the earth will result in all those left behind dying. He can't see another way out, so he does the best he can. And by doing so, plays right into the enemy's hands, because they fully expect him to do this, and have a plan to destroy not only the earth, but also the evacuation ship. Needless to say, our heroes band together and drive off the bad guys, rather than running, and decide to take the fight to the enemy's homeworld. A couple episodes later, Rossiu disappears, and Simon and Kinon search for him. Rossiu is intending on committing suicide, because he feels that he has failed everyone, and he doesn't deserve to live after the mistakes he's made. Instead, he gets a sock to the jaw and a reminder that he was just doing the best he could. He's not a bad person for trying to help everyone the only way he knew how. They still need him and love him, and he's an essential part of the team.

Finally, in the last episodes we learn the origins of the Anti-Spirals. They have sacrificed themselves into a matrix-like system in order to keep the entire universe tamped down and under control, so that the Spiral energy possessed by the heroes won't tear apart the fabric of reality. Their fundamentally conservative ideology is that change and evolution are bad and will destroy the universe, and the only way to keep the universe safe is by controlling people through the infliction of depression and hopelessness. They are represented by a solitary, badly drawn man, in contrast to the cast of individuals that make up our heroes. Our heroes, by this point, also include Viral, a top fighter for the Spiral King and Kamina's rival during the first half of the show, as well as a cloned version of the Spiral King himself. There are no enemies in a grand sense, just people with different views on how to save the world, and even if they made mistakes, they're still essential once they've seen the light (see, for example, Amber Frost's story about an organizer who was baffled at what to do when an alt-right guy wanted to join her union. Frost's reply was, "Then you've won! A union isn't a social club, it's about getting a closed shop in opposition to the bosses"). And, what's more, we're shown that many, many others have made it to this point before. Our heroes are not special. They aren't chosen heroes of destiny who can do what no other could possibly achieve. But it also doesn't matter that others have tried and failed. As a group, through hard work, they can succeed.

It's a relentlessly optimistic show, in case you hadn't picked up on that. Is it, like, an adaptation of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon? No, definitely not. But the way it slides in leftist thought alongside gigantic robot battles is rather fun.

quote:

Japan's government demanded the return of democratic rule in Myanmar on Monday, hours after reports indicated that the country's armed forces had arrested State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and initiated a coup.

Good soup! posted:

so I forgot to keep up with the Discotek release of Hajime no Ippo and looks like it has already sold out everywhere I've seen online

loving dope, hope it keeps up and we get New Challenger and Rising down the line (and fingers crossed Madhouse does another season in the future)

Xaris posted:

i've now caught up with yuru camp. very good

Jose posted:

https://imgur.com/a/aTrl3/all

Mirello posted:

As someone who loves the show, and follows the manga, I'm ok if they don't make any more of the anime. I think it ended at a really good and hopeful point. If they did make new seasons, there's a lot they should cut out imo. And I dont see how you could do the last three years (since ippo retired

BornAPoorBlkChild posted:

"A Case For The Australia Incident" - Side 7 Times: Democracy Dies In Darkness

Declan MacManus posted:

watching burn the witch, only got about five minutes in before they dropped the totally bonkers statistic that in this world, 72% of deaths are attributable to dragons

for reference in the real world 73% of deaths are attributable to non-communicable diseases

dragons are twice as deadly as heart disease

Maya Fey posted:

are you a bad enough dude to find out why "astolfo" is trending

net work error posted:

I demand someone else watch the 2000 Boogiepop Phantom.