Day 5 of Niji Nights: Queer Characters in Anime Part 3

Hey all! Welcome to another day of Niji nights! I’m here bringing the 3rd year of Queer characters here is another 5 to our roster! If this interested you check out year 1 and 2 too! Mermaid sisters from Carole and Tuesday Three extraterrestrial sisters singing do-wop on an international signing competition on Mars. What more can I say~ Finn from Yurei Deco This androgynous creature lived…

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*endless chortles and wheezing* WHY IS YOUNG FINN AND HIS OLD PAL REMINDS ME OF DAIKEN!? WTH!? ⊙.☉

"Finn" by: mito from: Yurei Deco

for day 1 of @mogai-headcanons anniversary event, i decided to give some lesbian/gay man/BONUS gay for nonbinary people headcanons i feel are important (To Me)!

the first three edits are lesbian sakura kasugano (who, if you know me, i find this headcanon PRETTY important), and i also headcanon her as a trans lesbian tbh. fourth and fifth edits are gay man finn and gay man hank from yurei deco, a series that has stuck in my mind since i've watched it, and who's characters i find are pretty loveable. the last one is gay (for nonbinary people, i find it important to add that context) colonel.exe! i like to headcanon them as nonbinary and i think they'd be attracted to other nonbinary people as a kind of monosexuality.

image descriptions under the cut:

[image description: six pride edits; three of sakura kasugano from street fighter, one of finn from yurei deco, one of hank from yurei deco, and one of colonel.exe from megaman battle network. sakura kasugano is a japanese girl with brown hair, and in the first image, a white haramaki, while in the second and third images, she sports a red haramaki. in the first image, sakura kasugano is making a surprised and distressed expression, and is running towards someone. in the second image, sakura is cheering happily. in the third image, sakura is vigorously drinking water or milk. finn is a presumably asian man with long black hair, an androgynous appearance, serene eyes, and is wearing a kimono and a long brimmed hat. in the image of finn with the veldian flag behind him, finn is smiling serenely. hank is a black man who heavily resembles jimi hendrix, and sports a large afro. in the image of hank with the veldian flag behind him, he is making an incredulous expression. colonel.exe is a pale-skinned nonbinary person with green eyes and black hair wearing cybernetic clothing, because they are some sort of robot. in the image of colonel with the gay flag behind them, they are making a serious expression. end image description.

The problem I have with Yurei Deco’s ending

I planned to write this A LOT earlier but I had things to do and honestly? I didn’t want to rewatch that damn episode 12.

Keep in mind it’s only MY opinion. You are free to disagree with me.

So what do I have against Yurei Deco’s ending? More specifically, it’s the fact that Hack takes the place of Injunction Jo that I hate.

Jo should have picked someone else

Jo literally fucking said 2 minutes before that she wanted someone naive, purehearted and self-centered.

Guys. Hack is probably the most selfish, self-centered main character of the show.

Berry risks her life and becomes a Yurei because she wants to save Hack who is accused of being Phantom Zero. She lost her Love, lost the right to see her parents and old friends, lost her comfort. And she never reproached Hack for it. Pup is a robot so he can’t take the job. Finn used everyone but he did so to save the inhabitants of where he grew up. They tossed him and treated him badly but he still spent years planning to save them. The others do nothing self-centered (except helping their found family) but nothing selfish either.

Hack? In episode 1 she saves Berry from Phantom Zero only because Berry has the origami. Given how touching a “0” thingy in a Hyperverse looks dangerous, it seems very risky to leave Berry alone in front of Phantom Zero. Dumps Berry behind as soon as she sees the exit of the Control Center. Her using weird sayings all the time and ignoring when people don’t understand her is also a sign. She doesn’t even try to learn or understand their point of view.

In short, Hack isn’t interested in people unless she likes them or has something to gain from doing so.

Jo sees everything so she knows this. Would you put the lives of the inhabitants of a whole city in the hands of someone who cares only about themselves and their relatives?

Not to mention Jo must have seen Hack ditching everything she doesn’t like without a care for the consequences.

Giving the Yurei the possibility to gain Love is problematic

Hack doesn’t like what doesn’t exist in the real world. She doesn’t like artificial things. Why would she give people who live in the slums access to Love, that is something that doesn’t exist in the real world?

I mean, it’s a form of freedom and Hack LOVES freedom. But the problem is, giving Finn’s childhood neighborhood inhabitants what they want will not let them reflect on if they truly are right.

What these people need is to understand why the garbage is causing illness (once they do, they will accept that health is more important than Love). Not that they can have all the Love they want. Not that they get Love by cleaning the place. First it’s a short-term solution because they won’t understand that Love isn’t more important than their environment, second they will associate garbage with a way to get more Love. It gives bad morals.

The end is uselessly sad

Jo stated she was tired of her job and at the end we learn she has decided to leave the island and go see the outside world. This implies that Phantom Zero can’t leave Mark Twain and is most likely surrounded only by robots and AI. It also appears she can’t contact anyone outside the paradise (except for supplies maybe?).

So, instead of trying to change the rules so she is the last one to suffer, Jo simply ditches the burden on a kid… and leave the island once Hack’s training is done.

Not to mention Hack is a girl and a girl staying on Mark Twain behind a “protection system” called “Angel Fish Club” is creepy when you know what the Angel Fish Club truly was.

Luckily, we’re talking about Hack, who ditches things as soon as she’s bored with them (and it seems it’s what happens at the end) or force her way out even if you try to stop her. I don’t know if the purpose of such a setting is supposed to be a simple reference or if it’s supposed to tell us the system ruling the island is the root of the problem. So it appears to me as a uselessly sad fate for Hack, even if she has the nerves to toss her new responsibilities aside.

This end doesn’t solves half the problems and questions

Sure Berry caught Phantom Zero, sure she and Hack and us know who Phantom Zero and the Zero Phenomenons are. Sure they proved their innocence and Berry got her old life back.

Remember episode 6? Remember how it is implied that Hackitt has been killed, or at least sent away in some kind of prison? That he left his precious drone behind so his discoveries on Phantom Zero can be passed on? Remember when Finn said that Hack would probably be sent to a correctional facility after the trial? Remember how the non-Yurei still don’t know about the Yurei?

All the anime shows the problems come from the way the island works. Not to mention you shouldn’t be the only one to rule, the non-Yurei rely on their Deco too much. They can’t see people right in front of them if their Deco is hacked. They need to be popular on social medias to be happy in their life (look at Finn’s old family). They can be tricked into liking food thanks to “Flavor”. They can hide ugly, dangerous garbage with Deco. They are not forced to like with the Yurei existence, they choose to.

And now that Berry knows about the Yurei, the dirty truth of those knowing too much being disposed of, how they live in a world where everything is real and don’t need to be loved on Twitter to be happy, she does… nothing???

They gave up on the morals they started to show

The anime begins by showing us the problems of a society relying too much on AR and social medias. And about truth (= reality) and lies (= Deco). And about good and bad lies. And about hiding things people don’t want to see/acknowledge it exists because it could hurt them.

And the end is: “put content warnings so people can choose to see only what they want”. … Which won’t solve anything. And it’s the opposite of what Hack says to Jo: people don’t need you to tell them what is wrong and what is right. Putting content warnings is already labeling something as potentially bad for you one way or another.

Now, to some degree, content warnings are a good idea (like hiding R-18 content) … if everyone knows they should go out of their comfort zone from time to time. We don’t hear much about it but social medias and websites that recommend you content based on your tastes have the effect of keeping you as you are. Instead of encouraging you to discover new stuff and grow as a person (which is the morals of The World Ends With You for example).

I really LOVED Yurei Deco at the beginning. I loved that a girl born in an easy-to-live city discovered its dark side, accepted her new life as an outcast, unintentionally made people around her care for others and questioned the society and what she did/thought while chasing a mysterious being in such a bright-looking cyberpunk world using AR. I loved the parallels with the social medias and their critics of the Internet communities. I loved how they presented AI both as robots having an owner and shop owners (for the more advanced ones) without having them give the money to someone else. I loved Berry and Hack.

Which is why it pains me so much that the staff didn’t plan the ending (see Crunchyroll’s Interview again), chose to not use the anime for criticism and went for the easy way by having an ending up to interpretation.

If it was clear it couldn’t have been a hidden gem by the middle of the anime, it surely could have at least ended in a satisfactory way. I’d gladly watch whatever sequel-like thing would show up if it means the characters realize the problem is the system ruling the island itself.

Yurei Deco Episode 1 Review & Episode 2 Release Date

Berry will be able track Zero, the notorious thief who takes people's virtual money? Yurei Deco Episode 2 is near and we have all the information you need about the upcoming episode. Episode 1 Recap & Review – What Happened Before Yurei Deco Episode 2? Yurei Deco Episode1, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,The Island City of Tom Sawyer are all run through the DecorationCustomizer system everyone calls "Deco". They are trying to get "Love", their currency, so that they can upgrade their avatars. Berry is a citizen obsessed with the idea of capturing Zero, a mythical criminal. Zero's name is an incarnation of what Berry does: he can make anyone's Love zero. Berry is on her journey to the doctor to get her eye implanted when she spots an invisible figure that is swindling people's Love. She believes it to be Zero. He chases her but she is unsuccessful. Berry follows her pursuers with a recording surveillance device until she reaches the Zero Phenomenon event, where the thief recognizes another person as Zero and presents Zero to them. Yurei Deco Premiere Review: First Three Episodes Science SARU's newest anime, Yurei Deco is a bright and colorful look at augmented reality as well as an evocative loose adaptation of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The show's initial three episodes were marred by clumsy tech talk, thin characters, and a lack of promise. The latest episode of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and The Heike Story is set on Tom Sawyer Island. This augmented reality world allows characters to go to school from their bedrooms and have a virtual video chat with their peers in the distant future. They also have a tiny device that allows them decorate the world around them (from billboards to shop signs to facades on buildings or houses) as they please. They must pay to get that done. "Love" is the local currency. It's earned by doing things other people approve of and give value to. Everything is perfect on Tom Sawyer Island. The only problem is that the Phantom Zero attacks, draining all of the love and affection in the surrounding area. The story follows Berry, a normal girl who is able to see Hack, a girl she has never seen before, and they stumble upon Phantom Zero's attacks. Hack is blamed for the attack and the two discover a web of lies that runs through their entire society. It's no easy task to translate a piece that is so closely connected to Americana like the works of Mark Twain into another culture. But it's not surprising that Dai Sato, who wrote Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain, finds universal themes in the novel to bring it to a futuristic setting. There are obvious references like the splitting of the name Huckleberry Finn between the main characters. But the show's greatest strength is its exploration into societal hypocrisy. Berry might live in a utopia where everyone is happy, but this is because extreme censorship is in place where anything "undesirable", or against the mainstream, is quickly removed in secret. It is because of this that, just as in Twain’s novel, it is the Yurei (literally translated "ghosts") who are the only ones who see the truth. It remains to be seen how this plot thread will resolve, but it is a promising beginning to the show. Yurei Deco is bright, colorful and visually imaginative. Yurei Deco, a Science SARU anime is, as you might expect, vibrant and colorful. The show's art style and aesthetic can be altered depending on which point of view is being experienced. Deco allows you to alter your surroundings virtually. An uninteresting building can look 3D and complex in one scene and minimalistic and 2D in the next. Yurei Deco, which is even more than belle and Summer Wars, shows how flexible a virtual world can become for the user. Yurei Deco's biggest problem is in the implementation of its technology. It is difficult to see the difference between the fully virtual world, and the augmented reality deco system in a story about technology and how it integrates into daily life.  Although it could be explained more as the story progresses, the initial episode leaves a lot to be desired. In the first three episodes, Berry and Huck's characters are a bit thin and undefined. They are not the "wonderful one with funny speech patterns" or the "normal one." Masaaki Yuasa was the creator of Yurei Deco. His influence can still be clearly seen here. The show is a promising show that has some issues, but it's a visually striking and narratively strange show that deserves more attention this summer. Verdict Yurei Deco continues Science SARU’s string of visually distinctive anime, with big ideas but few characters. It does, however, offer a touching and loose adaptation to Huckleberry Finn in an augmented reality world and society hypocrisy. Where can I watch Yurei Deco Episode 2? English Subtitles Yurei Deco will be broadcast in Japan by Tokyo MX, MBS and BS NTV. Crunchyroll will stream the show online for those who are not in Japan. Crunchyroll offers premium subscriptions to access their library of shows. FAN is an ad-free plan that provides unlimited access to Crunchyroll's shows for an hour after an episode has been released for $7.99 per monthly; MEGA FAN offers the same perks, but it can be viewed offline for up to four devices for $9.99 per months or $79.99 per annum. A 14-day trial is available if you are interested in trying it out. When will Yurei Deco Episode 2 be released? Yurei Decode Episode 2 will be released weekly on July 10, 2022. Yurei Deco episodes air in Japan at midnight. In North America, episode 2 should air at the beginning of the morning. When is Yurei Deco Episode 2, due for release? Yurei Deco Episode 2, will be released at 11:00 PM JST in Japan. Depending on where you are located, the release time may vary. The release time of the first Crunchyroll episode should be the following: - Pacific Time: 8:30 AM PST - Central Time: 10:30AM CT - Eastern Time: 11:01 AM EST - British Time: 4:30 PM BST Read the full article

Crunchyroll to Stream Classroom of the Elite II, Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World and YUREI DECO

  Crunchyroll announced at its Sakura-Con panel today the following upcoming anime series will all stream on the service starting this summer. Read on for more details on each show!  

  Classroom of the Elite II Air Date: July 2022 Territories: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East and CIS

      Season 1 Synopsis: 

  Kiyotaka Ayanokoji has just enrolled at Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Senior High School, where it's said that 100% of students go on to college or find employment. But he ends up in Class 1-D, which is full of all the school's problem children. What's more, every month, the school awards students points with a cash value of 100,000 yen, and the classes employ a laissez-faire policy in which talking, sleeping, and even sabotage are permitted during class. One month later, Ayanokoji, Horikita, and the students of Class D learn the truth of the system in place within their school...

  Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World Air Date: July 2022 Territories: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East and CIS

    Synopsis:

  Struggling with life and society, high school student Michio Kaga wanders about the Internet and lands on an odd website. The website, featuring a number of questions and a point-based system, allows one to create skills and abilities for a character. Upon completing his character, Kaga was transported to a game-like fantasy world and reborn as a strong man who can claim idol-level girls. Thus begins the cheat and harem legend of a reborn man!

  YUREI DECO Air Date: July 2022 Territories: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East and CIS

      Synopsis:

  From Science SARU comes an original story based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The story begins when Berry, an average girl from an average home, meets Hack, a girl who looks like a boy. Charmed by Hack, Berry meets up with the team Hack leads, the Ghost Detectives Club. Members of this club are “socially dead,” working invisibly within the digitally controlled society of Tom Sawyer. As she works with the group, Berry learns about Zero, a mysterious figure who lurks within Tom Sawyer’s underground. She and Hack decide to chase down this figure, and in time, the truth behind the city is revealed...

  Stay tuned for more info on each series this Summer!

      Kyle Cardine is a Managing Editor for Crunchyroll. You can find his Twitter here.

By: Kyle Cardine