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.

1) What is your reaction to the text you just read? I found the first two chapters of  Silver-Spoon to be very entertaining for its interesting setting, where the protagonist finds himself at a school full of people that he feels are completely different from him due to their passion in farm/agriculture-related studies. His reason for being in this situation not yet revealed (at least with as far as I have read), makes me (and all the other characters, really) wonder why he is in this school in the first place. As someone who grew up in a family familiar with farming, its really humorous to see the protagonist's shocked reactions to things that I (and anyone familiar with this sort of subject) have grown up to understand. I really enjoy how this manga shows that even though these students are not 'book-smart', like the protagonist, they are incredibly adept at what they do and are still knowledgeable about farming and other related subjects. 2) What connections did you

Magical girl anime has always been one of the most popular anime genres- with some of the most well-known series to its name! Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica are all *intensely* beloved series by many anime fans, and their influence effects media both in Japan and the U.S. to this day! For example, American cartoons such as Steven Universe and Star Vs. The Forces of Evil are full of references to Sailor Moon and Utena, even at times having shot-for-shot remakes of certain action sequences. I personally did not grow up watching Sailor Moon, but I've seen it referenced so often by now that I feel like I've watched the whole series! On another hand, while magical girl anime has had an overall positive influence on eastern animation as a whole, it is really interesting to see the reactions toward the raunchier, more adult magical girl series such as Kill la Kill and Panty & Stocking. I love both of those series very dearly, but there are

I remember reading My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Kabi Nagata when it initially got big in the west (2 years ago, I believe?), and feeling incredibly excited by the idea that manga dealing with more realistic depictions of LGBT life were beginning to become mainstream! Growing up as a queer girl with an interest in anime was a very lonely experience for me, but in an entirely different way. I found that most of my friends who did know about anime were super deep into Yaoi content- and I just really couldn't get into it (and now, I understand that its because those girls were straight- a lot of Yaoi content is obviously geared toward this exact demographic!!). With that, I also tried looking into Yuri content, but without much luck- because that genre is, of course, geared towards straight men! So, I gave up looking for quality LGBT anime content for a very long time! That is, until I read My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, which was such an honest breath of fresh

This talk was particularly exciting for me, because recently I have been going back and re-watching a lot of the Studio Ghibli films I had grown up with- and even so, there are so many that I absolutely have to see! My favorites are Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo- which are all pretty popular in the west, but this talk has inspired me to go and see the lesser-known Ghibli films like Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, and Whisper of the Heart.  At the time of writing this, I had just rented Porco Rosso from the library and watched it- and it was honestly the most wholesome anime films I have ever seen. I loved the bright and carefree atmosphere, and the main characters- Porco and Fio- were incredibly endearing (actually, this goes for all the characters, because the 'antagonist' pirates and the American man were also adorable)! Porco Rosso had the relaxing and nostalgic quality that makes Miyazaki films so beloved in abundance, and having the knowledge that it was made to be