Shinji Ikari Must Die (But Not for the Reason You're Probably Thinking)

It would seem that the Rebuild of Evangelion is determined to be a mirror reflection of its parent series. Now, I know what you’re saying. ‘An action packed, visually impressive series that builds up traditional expectations only to blindside the audience three quarters of the way through with depression and subversions? I’m not even sure whether you’re describing Evangelion or Rebuild!’ And after a fashion, you’d be right. Like the Mirror verse Spock, it can be pretty hard to differentiate until you hit upon the obvious beard of thematic difference (and isn’t that a muddled simile). As the lead in might suggest, be aware of spoilers for 3.0 and beyond.

Well, this will be interesting

The 2013 Liebster Awards

 

We interrupt my usual pontificating to indulge in a heartwarming surprise and a bit of camaraderie. The very articulate Artemis was kind enough to nominate Fashionable Tinfoil Accessories for a Liebster Award! I had no idea what this was until I was nominated, but that just means I had the pleasant humbling pride of being complimented by a blogger I respect AND getting to do the research I’m ever-fond of. For the fellow uninitiated, here’s a rundown of the rules:

The Liebster Award is intended to give some exposure to small blogs with less than 200 followers. The rules are as follows:

1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you
2. Answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you
3. Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers
4. Go to the blogs you nominated and notify them of your nomination
5. Give your nominees 11 questions to answer.

My 11 questions from Artemis:

1. When did you first start blogging, and do you realistically see yourself still blogging in, say, 10 years from now?

This blog is a foundling thing, only in the works since October 2013. I did a bit of on and off blogging as a child, but this one is my first truly concentrated attempt at providing a reliable schedule of content. As for the future? While this version of the blog might not always be around (who knows with the ever changing internet, right?), I think blogs are an invaluable tool for writers to keep in touch with an audience. That’s the part I’d like to hold onto, even if the content or platform evolves.

2. Describe your favourite country in the world in 3 words.

America: Inexplicably, chaotically home.

3. You have to pick one country in which to live for the rest of your life, but it can’t be a country you’ve already lived in before. Or Japan. Where do you choose and why?

England! And more specifically, Stratford: it’s about the same size as my hometown, with a pleasant populace and a jawdropping wealth of available theatre; it’s also only a few hours by train to London, and there’s this killer bakery that has enormous £1 desserts every day at tea time.

4. White, milk, or dark chocolate?

Dark

5. What was the first television series (anime or otherwise) you ever fell in love with? Nostalgic merits aside, do you still love it today?
My love for The Muppets was unshakeable as a kid. For the longest time I had one tape with a handful of episodes, and I watched it over and over and over again. And while some of the Very Special Guests are a bit baffling with history, a lot of the bits and the cleverness of the humor hold up really well across generations and audiences. I even liked Jason Segal’s recent love letter to the characters (and you can't keep me away from the upcoming Tina Fey-infused project).

6. What’s been the single best and worst television series (again, anime or not) of 2013 so far?

Let’s go with anime, because my western television this year mostly consisted of older shows and The Daily Show.

BEST – I’ll be dully predictable by shouting out Attack on Titan. I know this show has been hyped to death and back into a shambling undead state of meme-life, but it really captivated me. The Berserk-esque thick-lined art and oppressive soundtrack, the excellent pacing and true feeling of isolation and entrapment, gave this show a solid sense of atmosphere that’s damn rare. The characters were varied and complex (impressively so for such a large cast, that each felt distinctive enough so as not to leave me grinding my teeth at one individual receiving more or less screen time), and blessedly outside of the normal fanservice paradigms 99% of the time. And most importantly, I thought the tone was successfully dark without becoming bleak, retaining a sense of hope and determination that kept you invested in the future of the characters and the world.

WORST – Hands down, no show left me in a frothing rage this year like Devil Survivor 2 The Animation. The game it’s based on is near and dear to my heart, and the first episode of the show did an excellent job of translating the world of the game into a believably tense and atmospheric aesthetic for a non-interactive medium. They then proceeded to squander every advantage it had, starting with a truly baffling sense of pacing that seems almost as if they were writing week to week with no overall planning session (four episodes on the first day of an eight day timeline? In a 12 episode series?). Rather than streamlining the game’s large cast it introduced everyone with the express purpose of more meaningless carnage, like the X movie without the lovely visuals, and reduced the morally grey, pragmatic and increasingly Protagonist-admiring Yamato to an icy yandere making cardboard Rule the World speeches (and let us not even discuss what they made of the previously charming and capable Io). I am actually feeling some residual rage even as I type.

7. If you could have any one superpower, what would it be?

Mind melding, man. While flight is tempting I have to assume it wouldn’t come with the necessary subpowers like surviving the icy temperatures and thin air. But joining minds with somebody plays right into my awkwardness at interpersonal communication, teamed up with the allure of being able to convey thought as a visual image.

8. What did you want to be when you grew up, and would you still do that if you could?

It changed every so often, but ‘writer’ was definitely on the list. So I’m pretty happy. Though I must admit, there still burns in me a secret yearning to take part in a bit of voice acting at some point.

9. Do/did you play any sports?

…Does bowling count?

10. Have you ever spent more than a couple of days in the hospital?

Y’know, I don’t think I ever did. Not even that time when I cut my toes off as a kid.

11. In a world without internet, how would you probably spend the majority of your free time?

My brain went way deeper than the question was probably intended with this. The surface answer is that I’d be an academic, since it would allow me to do the same sort of batty analysis I do already and to hang out with likeminded individuals. But without internet, I’m not sure I’d be the same person at all. Don’t get me wrong, I had a happy family life. But I grew up in a small, isolated, and homogenous town, so no internet means no comfort from knowing there was a queer community out there somewhere, or being exposed to a wide variety of different beliefs from a young age, or being able to easily obtain unusual movies or goods. The thought’s actually a bit disturbing to me.

My Nominations:

You’ll notice my list is a bit shorter than 11 – this is because several of my picks are already on Artemis’ list (and she’s one herself). You can check her list out here.

Anime Tantrums:

Blogging done by an English speaker living in Japan, writing with the purpose of contextualizing anime in the culture it comes from. While this blog hasn’t been active in a few months it’s still well worth checking out. Her essays on The Flowers of Evil alone are standing ovation-worthy in their thoughtfulness.

The Classy Shipper:

Run by the blogger behind the excellent recap-and-analysis blog Femservice, this is the fun aspects of fandom discussion put through the rigors of good writing and thoughtful discussion (the stark no bashing rule is a blessed welcome, for example). There’s a good engagement between author and audience, and reader-submissions (providing they’re of good quality) are accepted for credited republication.

Caraniel’s Ramblings:

A sometimes essay, sometimes episode recap anime blog that keeps its content sharp and to the point (while also sticking with its shows all the way to the end, which is no mean feat). An excellent choice for keeping up with the current season.

Thealogical Lady:

A blog that attempts to blog about spirituality from a feminist perspective. This isn’t a topic that will appeal to everyone, but Kate’s sensitivity and warmth about the subject makes it a thoughtful and engaging read.

Moeronpan:

Another episode recap blog, but one with both a consistent schedule and a sizable back library of shows to sort through. Its commentary is pleasant and good for getting the general idea of a series’ appeal (from one perspective), and it’s one I always enjoy reading.

Lost My Thesis:

An essay-centric blog on anime old and new, which covers a variety of unusual and engaging topics from the influence of certain actors to profiles of under-the-radar series and exploration of big themes like masculinity, humanism, and gender.

Moe Sucks:

As the title might impress upon you, this is a blog more on the critical end of the spectrum. It ranges from thematic examinations of shows to reviews to episode-by-episode critiques. And most importantly for a critical blog, the writing is well worded and specific in its reasoning. Basically, if you want to feel cathartic about a show then this is the place to go.


Questions for the Nominees:

1. How did your blog get its name?
2. Would you rather your blog have a bunch of silent readers or a small but involved community? Why?
3. Are text posts a matter of preference, or convenience? Have you ever thought about a video style?
4. Is your favorite author now the same as it was ten years ago? Five?
5. What movie or show are you most looking forward to next year?
6. What do you look for when picking a new series to watch?
7. You have one consequence-free day. What do you do?
8. Who’s your favorite director?
9. Have you ever realized your love for something was mostly not-too-sturdy nostalgia…but only halfway through trying to show it to someone else?
10. What’s the worst spinoff or adaptation of something you really love?
    
    And finally, just because of this blog’s occasionally particular focus:
11. What do you know about Lupin III?

Green Jacket 03 - Witch(less) Hunt

Welcome back to the Greencaps, which is not so much a clever portmanteau as it is an indication of my legendarily lazy fingers. When last we left our thieving conspicuously not thieving heroes, they were disproving magic and having lakefront shenanigans. Not that it really matters, because both Lupin the Third Part I and these blogs are meant to be standalones (though you can find past Recaps by clicking on the tag in question). If last time was a meandering episode with a few awesome bits, this week’s is a bewildering journey of surreal nonsequitors that I’m still not sure I understand. I was really looking forward to using this week’s recap to take my mind off of the cut to the emotional Achilles tendon that is Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion. Then I saw the title.

 

“Farewell, my Beloved Witch” opens on a romantic speedboat cruise for two. Fujiko is cuddled up to Lupin, which is rather sweet, and she starts messing around with his signature Walther P-38. Whatever works for them, I guess. Then another boat comes by them, and Fujiko’s brain suddenly says FUCK THAT BOAT. For no adequately explained reason she shoots the engine, causing the strange driver to crash into a nearby crop of rocks. Lupin leaps to the boat driver’s rescue, perhaps lured by the scent of two X chromosomes (you think I’m joking, just wait).

He spends this entire scene cross eyed,perhaps wondering where the bridge of his nose has gone

My Favorite Christmas Movie is from Japan

Around this time of year everyone has their holiday lineup. Whether it’s A Christmas Story and the nightmare inducing clay faces of the Rankin-Bass specials, whatever Chanukah films are left after disregarding the atrocity that is Eight Crazy Nights, or just raising the good old Festivus pole and perhaps rocking out to Die Hard, this is a time of year that deals in familiar faces. After all, the holidays are times we want to spend with our families (of blood or of choice), remembering good times and enjoying the safe space of familiarity while spreading kindness to all humanity. I’m a bit of an optimist, so sue me.

But that nostalgia can make it hard to bestir yourself to look into new stories. After all, there’s so many great ones already, right? And we’ve all sat through the Hallmark schlock at least once, induced in our sleepy sense of goodwill into at least attempting a warm embrace of the cash in made for TV stuff. I’ve been there, dear readers. But the point of this unusually uncoordinated missive is to give you the last great addition to my own family’s Christmas filmathon: Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfathers.

My heart grows three sizes just looking at them

Green Jacket 02 - Mythbuster Thief

You know that story where Sherlock Holmes is trying to solve a case that everyone thinks was caused by a vampire, and for a while it seems like there might actually be one of the nosferatu, but then in the end Sherlock assures us of how it couldn’t possibly be a supernatural fanged being after all? This episode is like that. Welcome to Lupin III Part I, and my weekly attempts to prep the world for Miyazaki’s return to the franchise. Come in, have a seat, and baffle along with me at how such a great series started off so very, very poorly.

“The Man They Called a Magician” starts with a scene straight out of a mobster movie. Some mooks in trenchcoats bust in with tommyguns blazing and ice this john, ya dig? But when they knock off to get friendly with some dames the punk that oughta be sleepin’ with the fishes gets up and is totally fine, see? Myeh.

After the Untouchables-esque cold open, we cut to the heroes protagonists likable characters jerks we’re following for some reason (and also Jigen) in a state of relative repose – Lupin is fishing in his underwear, like you do, while Jigen engages in target practice alongside the metallic love of his life. That beatnik they kidnapped to do the opening theme has finally mellowed out from the torture the producers inflicted on him, and sets the scene with a (more, somehow) mellow version of the one-word title song.

 

Jigen’s suit is having one of its fuzzy phases

 

From the window of the nearby safe house we hear that Fujiko’s taken up a love for singing bloody, thematically foreshadowing songs. She wandered out of a burning forest the night before, and Lupin was conveniently there to rescue her. Back outside, Jigen warns Lupin that Fujiko can’t be trusted, and Lupin brushes him off. Some variation of this conversation will continue to occur in virtually every heist Fujiko suggests, regardless of jacket color. It’s practically Jigen’s catchphrase, a statement so sad I don’t actually have words for it.

All Twilight Needed was a Bloodbath

The fact of it is that we exist in a post-Twilight world, whether you’ve bitterly resigned yourself or not. It’s not just the epidemic of sexy-monsters, which might’ve reached its peak with the cavalcade of WUT that was sexy zombie flick Warm Bodies, it’s all the insidious little tropes that come along with it: the main character who’s been made as bland as possible in order to better assist reader insertion, protagonists who switch between being infuriatingly passive and actively awful people, love triangles crowbarred into the plot contrivances-be-damned, and prose so purple you can feel HP Lovecraft stirring in his seafood-proofed grave.

For the record, I am fully supportive of Stephanie Meyer encouraging reading. That’s a wonderful thing, even if it came gift wrapped in a double edged sword of terrible role models. And to be doubly fair, these aren’t just problems that exist in YA fiction or even American fiction (more on that in a minute). But it doesn’t change the fact that I came out of those books wanting to murder the three main characters as violently as possible. Instead, we had to make do with a stomach churning happy ending with no actual climactic conflict (except in the movie, which promptly took it back), cream cheese and jam placenta eating, and a really creepy subplot wherein the spurned love interest decides he can just wait for her kid to turn legal (via being magically werewolf enslaved). This gnawed at me for a long time – me and the thousands of other authors who were spurred by the call of action ‘if SMeyer can get published, then ANYONE can do it.’

Years later a revelation came unto me. Acidic, stewing loathing is not the answer, my friends. School Days is. If there’s any genre more saturated with unpleasant people and tired genre tools than YA fiction, it’s romance anime. There’re a few good ones out there, really good ones even, but most fall into the same cookie cutter scenarios played out by paper dolls on sticks. Nowhere is this worse than the Harem genre. Behold: an ‘everyman’ type character, the audience surrogate, is thrust into an unlikely scenario where they’re surrounded by sexy specimens of the (usually) opposite sex; all of these mysterious beings are head over heels for the main character despite this person having no distinctive redeeming qualities or even memorable personality traits; and the potential love interests pretty much exist for the audience to ogle them, with the camera lovingly spending time on whatever was pegged as the marketable appeal. Sound familiar?

Harem anime (or any anime with a harem component) generally range from the benignly idiotic (Tenchi Muyo, Sword Art Online) to the jaw-droppingly exploitative and brain-dead (High School DxD, Ah My Buddha), with a few on the side that manage to twist something creative and heartfelt (and poke fun at) the concept (Ah! My Goddess, Ouran High School Host Club).

       

No, he’s fine. Stop teasing us, show.

 

And then there’s School Days, which starts out playing itself as a romantic harem comedy and then takes an axe to the genre conventions with a gleeful bloodstained smile. I’m going to vaguely spoil the ending, just because without knowing how it’s going to come out no sane person would ever subject themselves to it. School Days stars first year high school student Makoto, who’s noted to have been a gentle and caring boy growing up. Presumably they tell us this repeatedly on the assumption we’ll buy it sight unseen. Makoto has a crush on Kotonoha, a shy and bookish girl who was cursed with large boobs and the ensuing teasing/staring/rumors of sluttiness that accompany them. Makoto’s childhood friend Sekai offers to play matchmaker. And, wouldn’t you know it, she’s got secret feelings for him. This quickly turns into a melodramatic love triangle seeking to outdo itself at every turn, eventually escalating into madness, requisite possible pregnancies, and Makoto sleeping with the entire female population of his class.

 

Pictured: advice not a single character will follow

Green Jacket 01 - Burn it Down

The curse of a longstanding, ongoing work is that the early bits are going to look hoarier as the creator (hopefully) continues to improve their craft. For example, if I go back to watch the first episode of Lupin III, a franchise whose continued existence brings me a childish sense of glee, I might wonder when the callous and bloodthirsty murderer replaced my favorite crafty gentleman thief. This is the curse of time, ladies and gents. And it’s a real shame because, like the Japanese public in the 70s, the uninformed would likely switch the confusing mess off and miss out on a barrel of laughs and at least one masterpiece. That, along with my tiny and likely ineffectual effort to talk up the original work before the surefire juggernaut series of 2014 comes out, has spurred me to start a little recap. I’ll go through the sometimes bizarre, sometimes bafflingly inept episodes before Hayao Miyazaki came on board, and when that time comes we can all just settle into having a great time together…while still pointing out some of charming oddities of this classic.

For those of you wanting to sing along, the show’s available for free on Hulu as Lupin the Third Part I. If you’re really ambitious you can plonk down $30 for the complete box set over on Amazon and keep the fine folks at Discotek in gas station sandwiches.

 

Alright, everybody scrunch up

It's More than Kick Ass - Samurai Flamenco and Deconstruction

[Note: This editorial was originally posted prior to episode 10. Thus, while I stand by most of the theory until proven otherwise, it does fail to bring the details of the most recent revelations into the discussion. I'd love to talk about it in the comments, though.]

Every last work ever written is derivative of something, and the 2013 Hero anime Samurai Flamenco is no exception. The problems start when that fact of fiction-writing is flung around as an insult. The flavor of debate this particular week is of the east-versus-west variety, not unlike when The Hunger Games was accused of being a Battle Royale rip-off for sharing superficial elements (and if that argument isn’t yet dead it should be, thanks to this articulately written article). That vicious battle of nerd subcultures has been seeing resurgence as of late, but in reverse. Many are the pointed fingers accusing Samurai Flamenco of being little more than Kick Ass The Anime. And on the surface, the reason for the comparison is obvious: both start with protagonists in realistic worlds who want to be like the heroes of their childhood fiction, become Totally Not YouTube sensations, meet female heroes with a more pragmatic and violent approaches to fighting crime, and eventually wind up over their heads when a threat much deadlier than petty thugs surfaces. The case isn’t looking good, is it?

But here’s the thing. Approach is everything. Kick Ass is a unique idea that is throbbingly pleased with its own cleverness, something that shows through every frame of its execution. The film (the comic being a rather more unpleasant Take That Fanboys creation) exists as a sort of hyper-real fantasy, one that pays its dues to the violence and nastiness of actual crime but just as often revels in them as a sort of spectacular, Sin City-esque carnival of gore (microwave guy, looking at you). At its heart, the movie is a fantasy dressed up in the clothes of real life, however many people they light on fire. And, pointed terminology aside, that’s fine. It makes it a unique fusion of escapist approach in an apparently naturalistic setting. Samurai Flamenco, from the position of the nearly-halfway point, seems to be taking a more meta approach of applying the trappings of fantasy to a realistic universe. It spends one quarter of its run developing realistic rules, reactions, and considerations for its world and characters, always prioritizing slice of life conversation and character development over Masayoshi’s heroic antics. It clearly wants the mundane to be at the forefront of the viewer’s mind, and it cements it there to blow it apart. When Nic Cage shows up in a fenced Batman costume it’s what we were all waiting for. When a guillotine gorilla shows up at a drug bust, the internet has to stop its head from spinning all the way around. And I think they did it on purpose.

I debated whether I should write this essay before the show was over, since criticism in media res more often than not turns out to be partly or wholly defunct rather quickly. But with the darker turn Flamenco has taken as of late and the uncertain grumbling among viewers, I felt a dire need to step in as its defense. This all makes total sense to me, because at the end of the day Samurai Flamenco isn’t Kick Ass. It has more in common with Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Curse You, France!

Hayao Miyazaki is leaving us. He’s packing up his imaginative worlds, his well written female characters, his moral grays, his love of environmental and anti-war messages, and going to a farm upstate where he can romp with other retired directors.

Luckily for us, his idea of working less is to move from feature film into television. A few weeks ago, it was announced that Miyazaki would be directing a Lupin the Third TV series, set to air some time in 2014. If your head is not exploding from excitement right now, you’re probably American and can lay blame on the French.

Arséne Lupin III (that’s are-sen loo-PAHN) you see, is a cultural icon in Japan. He’s their Batman – there’ve been Lupins of all varieties on the tonal spectrum, and from its inception its always existed in one medium or another. Lupin III was originally a manga by Monkey Punch that ran from 1967 to 1969. It chronicled the adventures of the titular character, the grandson of famed gentleman thief Arséne Lupin. Lupin’s gang includes doggedly loyal sharpshooter Daisuke Jigen, anachronistic samurai Goemon Ishikawa XIII (a supposed descendant of the Japan’s more-or-less Robin Hood), and lady thief/spy Fujiko Mine (her name translates “Twin Peaks,” ‘cause the 60s was all about class). Their main antagonist is more-obsessive-than-Javert Best Cop Ever Koichi Zenigata, progeny of classic literary Best Cop Ever Heiji Zenigata. I guess what I’m saying is Monkey Punch was writing fanfiction before it was really a thing. Oh, and a note going forward – Japanese works read from right to left, generally speaking.

Cling. Cling on, you precious charm factories