Hayley Schaeffer (Seminar in Manga and Anime Blog)

In class we watched a few scenes from some really hilarious anime! I have only watched a few episodes of Mod Psycho 100 , and have yet to start One Punch Man  (I really need to get on that, wow), but from what I saw, it was really living up to the hype that so many people have been giving it! I tend to enjoy watching more lighthearted and humorous anime, so this topic was especially fun to learn more about! Japan's wacky, often nonsensical comedy is always so entertaining to me- even if it doesn't always make sense!  Pop Team Epic  is such a great example of this absurdist humor, with various quick and unpredictable scenes happening in succession- its incredibly hard to stop watching! On another note, comedy in anime can also sometimes make me feel sad for not knowing Japanese! Some shows do a lot of gags that are language-specific, specifically with puns. I remember in Kill la Kill , various outfits/upgrades that the characters gain throughout are pun-based! But they make n

Ok, first and foremost- I never watched Hetalia ! I knew some people growing up who were really into it, but otherwise I ended up steering clear of it up until this point. Based on what I saw from the presentation, its obvious to me now how the show appealed to so many young girls at its height (back in 2009, I believe?). At that time in my youth, we weren't at the point where we learned in-depth about WWII and the actual Axis-powers- so seeing a show that masquerades as historically accurate/educational seemed completely cool and appealing! Especially with all those 'cute' anime boys!!! Sadly, having been in AP U.S. History in high school, (and as a Jewish person) I can't imagine ever enjoying Hetalia . The stereotypes, romanticization of the Axis-powers (especially with how obviously militaristic Germany is!!! But they still try to make him likable?? Like what the hell??? His design was so obvious he didn't even need a damn swatstika to reference Nazi Germany)

When the presentation for the anime Made In Abyss  finished (which was a good presentation- very detailed and well-researched!), I asked the presenter something that I always wondered about when people support anime with a... Particular type of controversy surrounding it. I asked her, "How do you rationalize watching and actively supporting a series that was made by-- essentially a pedophile?" I asked that because this particular series has a huge following and a lot of support behind it due to its world-building and interesting premise, yet I feel like barely any of the fans are caring to speak on the fact that the creator of the series, Akihito Tsukushi, often puts the child characters of the story in sexual/overly violent to the point of being compared to torture-porn situations. It doesn't help at all that these situations are visually framed in a way that indisputably appeals to a not-so-appealing audience. It's one thing to have a story that has intense/mo

Unlike Boy and the Beast , I have not yet had a chance to finished Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai -but I really would like to, because that was honestly I think that was the most adorable film I've ever seen! I really enjoyed just how well it captured the personality and behavior of children- as someone who has spent a lot of time caring for younger family members, Mirai 's portrayals were INTENSELY ACCURATE!!!!  Even the dog felt accurate, somehow!!! I don't know what dogs think about or want but in that moment it just worked so well in the context of the film! One other aspect of Mirai that I particularly enjoyed (and this is something present in a lot of anime, particularly the slice-of-life genre) was just how entertaining and big the setting felt, despite really being small-scale and limited to the house. It takes a lot of creativity to make a major setting in a film that enclosed from the world, and it's really interesting to see the various ways Hosoda depict'

After we watched the beginning of Boy the and Beast in class, I rented the film from the library later that day and finished it. I must say, we basically watched all the best parts of the film, because it was all downhill after that... (at least, in my opinion!) I might be biased, because I really love anthropomorphic animal/monstrous characters and the world-building around them, but I absolutely adored the first half of this film! The beast world was so exciting to watch Kyuta explore, and all characters in it were unique and engaging in their own ways-especially Kumatetsu! Because of this, though, I was really disappointed in the film's tonal turn by the midpoint, where Kyuta goes back to the human world and meets some high-school girl (who I found to be incredibly boring, at least in comparison to all of the big personalities that the beast-characters had), and reunites with his real father. It was such a hard shift from Kumatetsu's hilariously dysfunctional father-son re

Watching Akira in class was such a blast- the film is so exciting and fast paced, I really wish we were able to screen the whole thing! Akira is so important to the history of anime for being the most expensive animated film at the time (1989), and for being a landmark of animation as an art form. I always found the cyberpunk aesthetic of Akira to be incredibly inspiring, with its bold colors, detailed environments, and badass bike-chases- it does a lot to make itself memorable after all this time. The themes of Akira eerily still hold up to this day- specifically those about the consequences of war, and the threat of nuclear destruction. These themes are very prevalent in most cyberpunk works- especially those that come out of Japan. Another cyberpunk anime that I've always enjoyed is Ghost in the Shell, specifically the 1995 film directed by Mamoru Oshii. It handles similar themes of war, but with the added complication of the blurred relationship between humans and androids.