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magaprima · 5 years

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Part 1 Episode 10 Thoughts 2/3

When all the mortals are running into Baxter High, Principal Hawthorne is, as fits his role, at the head of everything, guiding everyone through. It makes sense, because he’s the Principal, he’s in charge, but then Lilith is stood there at the door. She’s not assistant Principal, she’s not vice principal, she’s only a history teacher, yet she’s even stood with more authority, as she stands at the doors, looking more like the Principal than the Principal himself. This is a nice foreshadowing for her becoming the new Principal after eating Hawthorne, but I also like to think she’s stood there thinking about how the High School is going to need a new Principal, perhaps even vaguely thinking she would rule this place far better, little knowing the Dark Lord was going to make her stay at Baxter High and do exactly that.

When Hilda knocks Lilith. I found this funny when I first watched it because she really freaking knocks her and Lilith topples a bit with the unexpected impact and then the glare she throws her could quite honestly turn Hilda to pure ash. But, it is even funnier, when we found out it’s just Lucy constantly knocking Michelle at every opportunity. But if we keep it to characters only, man does Lilith get freaking pissed off at people knocking into her; the woman has a personal aura space and knock into it at your freaking peril.

When Hawthorne is constantly whispering in Lilith’s ear, totally invading her personal space, presuming allowed intimacy, she is constantly tense, her shoulders her up and she never moves a single inch in reaction to him; she neither gives him the satisfaction of either paying attention or pulling away. All that moves is her eyes, watching him out of the corner of her gaze, looking constantly pissed off in a silent yet deadly manner. She has a big task ahead tonight so she is trying her upmost best to tune him out and ignore him, and focus on her own things.

Yet when he leans really close and is practically smelling her hair, she does flinch and it’s clear he disgusts her. I always find it interesting how Lilith reacts to different men depending on how they behave towards her, because you would think, as this ancient being, as the Mother of Demons etc etc, she would be above reacting to any mortal in any way. Yet, she’s not, she does physically react here. His closeness revolts her. But she still tries not to give him any satisfaction of a reaction; this is the mark of a woman experiences in harassment and men and their general shittyness.

“I’m engorged with excitement”

This is the point when she can’t point-blank ignore him anymore. He has so persistently revolted her and annoyed her and now he’s crossed the point and she responds. But it’s not with open anger, or walking way, or anything like that, she actually responds in the way many mortal women in these situations have done. By just saying his name in a ‘Oh I’ll accept your harassment, but I’m trying to let you know it’s not okay’ because mortal women know shit is not likely to be done about it, so this is the usual compromise they have to settle on. Again, I think this shows how often Lilith has been in that situation, even in the days when she wasn’t as powerful as she is now, and I do think, with certain types of men or certain dynamics with them, she falls into knee jerk reactions, instinctive reactions that, oddly, aren’t that different from mortal women reactions.

But when he suggests ‘finally have that drink’ and she turns to glare at him, that’s the moment, that is the precise moment she decides she will have that drink with him. In order to kill and eat him. He signed his own death warrant with that final misogynistic push. I mean the look in her eyes, the way she says nothing, the way she walks away, is killer, literally. Yet, he’s so oblivious, he just seems to think she’s turned on. But Lilith’s abhorrence here, her reaction, is an interesting counter. I perceive Lilith as being someone who likes to dress a certain way, who likes to feel sexy. I know I do. When I wear high heels, a tight skirt, a really great bra, red lipstick etc I feel sexy and I like it. And I do it for me. I want to feel sexy for me, not for the male gaze and I feel this is Lilith’s approach, it’s her own enjoyment...yet, as always in this world for women, the way we dress directly influences how men interact with us, even though it shouldn’t.

So Lilith is yet again a prisoner, as she has been her whole existence. She was trapped in the Garden by the rules that said she was less than because of being a woman, then she has been trapped by her banishment, then she was trapped by Lucifer in an abusive dynamic, and even now, even while she is technically free to do as she pleases, to dress as she wants, that comes with a trap. Because she can’t just dress and enjoy it, it brings predatory, presumptive men and she has to constantly deal with them. Boring, tedious, repetitive reactions to her appearance. But why should she have to tone down what she enjoys just to avoid men’s attention? Why should the way she dresses, the make-up she wears, be directly connected to men? Why can’t it be what she likes? But no, she is still seen through a man’s eye, and is still seen as an object, something to be taken...and it’s gone on for so long, Lilith has literally learned what all mortal women have learned; to ignore it. It’s the wrong lesson, but we’ve all done it, and Lilith is included in that. Devouring Hawthorne is her having had e-fucking-nough.

When Lilith goes over to Sabrina and Hilda, warning them of what will happen if they can’t maintain the spell, she walks over so slowly and casually, she doesn’t even feign rushing. She’s really, really not bothered on any level and we, from the camera viewpoint can see the lack of urgency, which she only begins to feign once Sabrina and Hilda are focused on her. Lilith definitely needs an audience to maintain her cover.

I love how she goes into full ‘Wardwell’ mode when she’s talking about how the mortals will be unprotected and there will be ‘no escaping his sword’. I love Lilith openly acting as Wardwell; when she tries to be what she thinks is a school teacher who is also a witch who also likes mortals, it’s comical. She’s all wide eyed and over-dramatic movement, hair flicking, open speech, she blinks her big, blue eyes, she nods, she sighs dramatically and sadly, she speaks with this energetic yet desperate urgency...she basically has a lot of the markers in her movement of an animated Disney Princess when they’re trying to save the day. And that really tells you all you need to know about what Lilith thinks a mortal-loving-history-teacher-witch would be like.

When Hilda says ‘pitch in at any time’ in the most annoyed, sarcastic manner, Lilith just completely ignores her, like nope my focus is Sabrina, oddly rebellious-yet-soft aunt. She can only fake to one Spellman at a time. She only fully focuses on Hilda when she’s like ‘It would mean your Aunt Hilda holding the fort here alone for a bit’ and looks at the woman with both insistence of like ‘don’t you dare fucking refuse’, but also with the added ‘Wardwell’ expression of ‘I know I’m asking a lot’. As a side note Hilda’s frustrated ‘Bloody hell’ in reply is priceless.

We see Lilith’s small smile of satisfaction as Hilda agrees to stay and Sabrina agrees to go; this is the final stage of the plan, and things could have still gone awry, but Lilith knows the large part of the journey is done; once she gets Sabrina to the woods, she’s done it. It’s only a subtle smile, but it’s there, the woman is feeling relief. Because not only does this mean, she thinks, closer to a crown, but it means Satan won’t be punishing her.

Also, it’s interesting that when they leave, Sabrina is the one to take Lilith’s hand. Lilith is currently watching Salem and then Sabrina grabs her hand, surprising her (I don’t think she quite expected Sabrina to be so gung-ho) and Sabrina is the one leading. She has Lilith by the hand and is running and Lilith is running slightly behind. Despite her being the one to manipulate the events, we see Sabrina leading the way, which I think is foreshadowing for how Sabrina will lead the way on a larger scale, and does mark the new path for Lilith to follow in the Part 2 finale.

Also, the pair of them look adorable running together, because if we take it at face value without our audience knowledge, it just shows how close Sabrina and Ms Wardwell have become since discovering Ms Wardwell was a witch. Which, without all the surrounding context, is really sweet.

#episode stuff

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beneaththetangles · 5 years

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BtT Light Novel Club Chapter 11: True Tenchi Muyo! Volume 3 (Washu)

Welcome, dear readers, to the eleventh meeting of our Beneath the Tangles Light Novel Club. Up for discussion today is what is perhaps the least of the three True Tenchi Muyo! novels, but also the most satisfying in a number of ways. While Jurai and Yosho filled in important gaps that advanced the story of Tenchi Muyo!, Washu feels almost mid-story, a volume that raises more questions than answers while being the first of the books to focus on one of the main girls, and a fan favorite at that—the enigmatic genius, Washu Hakubi.

Framed in a unique way—reminiscent, actually, of the Mihoshi Special—the story begins by reminding us of “Hello Baby!”, the episode where we first got a glimpse into Washu’s sensitive side and learned that her back story was perhaps far fuller than we first imagined, far longer and deeper than any of the other girls’. The way into this tale is through none other than Mihoshi, who begins to regale the Masaki household with a family story that transitions into the main one, not realizing that her family’s account is part of Washu’s also.

Like the others in the series, Washu is a quick and exciting read. It is an absolute thrill to read about Washu’s childhood (or second childhood?) and her early years at the Academy. The story humanizes Washu, who in the original OVAs often flows between an absolutely lovable caricature of a mad scientist and a wise, ethereal being (note: only a very bit of her chousin origin is discussed here); the novel catches her during a time of innocence. In fact, the story really could be described as Washu’s loss of innocence, describing a journey from her years as a caretaker among orphans through education and her greatest loss, the one that still haunts her in the present time, as seen in “Hello Baby!” Covering so many years, the action often moves too fast and doesn’t necessarily feel like one big, coherent piece, though perhaps it wasn’t meant to—Washu continues to expand the world of Tenchi Muyo, which would of course later become larger and even more vast than fans would have imagined.

But enough from me—we want to jump into actual discussion. As we finish this series (the first we’ve completed!), I invite you all to answer the following questions in the comments. Feel free to answer some, all, or none, instead focusing on some other aspect of Washu which you’d like to discuss:

In what ways do you better understand Washu after reading this novel?

Do you see Mihoshi’s relationship with Washu differently after this novel?

Why do you think Washu prefers to stay in the guise of a child after the events involving her family and into the modern day?

Is Washu a more or less compelling character after you’ve read the novel?

Did anything surprise you about Washu’s backstory?

Do you understand Mikamo‘s decision to leave home with Mikumo?

Did Washu make the right decision at the end of the book?

Jeskai Angel, our newest club member, also read along. Having never read the previous installments in the series nor watched the show, it presented a great opportunity to look at Washu as a standalone novel. I asked him some questions from that perspective:

TWWK: Was the novel confusing since you had little context for it, having not read the other novels or watched any of the anime?

Jeskai Angel: I found the novel less confusing than I feared it might be. The very beginning features a bunch characters I’m obviously supposed to know already, but the bulk of the book focuses just on Washu and introduces new elements or characters just fine. There were occasionally other things that an experienced Tenchi fan was expected to know (light hawk wings or whatever???), but it wasn’t a big deal.

TWWK: All the light novels are surprisingly accessible, contributing greatly to the larger canon and containing plenty of fan service (the big connection you wouldn’t know, and that which set the Tenchi community on fire when it first was published decades ago now, was Mihoshi’s relationship to Washu), but working as stand-alone works. I’m glad it worked that way for you!

Jeskai Angel: I assume the big revelation that Mihoshi’s is Washu’s great granddaughter? Interesting.

TWWK: Yes! Though an astute viewer might surmise that Mihoshi had a special relationship with Washu, it was still incredible to find out that they’re related, and comical as well, since they’re on quite opposite ends of the intelligence spectrum. But onto the content of the novel! What are your general impressions?

Jeskai Angel: I think I most appreciated the humor. There was a hilarious line about cooking potatoes in a munitions factory early on, more humor as the story went on (Washu going faster and faster every time she had to run anywhere). I found the book’s overall pacing a bit odd. Sometimes you’d get a super detailed fight scene, for example, then other times the narrative skips months or years into the future with hardly any summary. It wasn’t bad, just a bit perplexing. The book also tried to cover an unusually long span of time (at least compared to other light novels I’ve read that take place over days or months at the most), which I suspect accounts for some of the peculiarities. The book also lacked resolution — specifically, it made a big deal of Washu’s mysterious origin, then dropped the subject and never came back to it. I’m sure her true nature has been explained in some other element of Tenchi media, but in the context of this book it felt weird.

TWWK: Those are good points. Vol. 3 certainly rushes through a long period of time, and is especially speedy toward the end. The mysteries about Washu, too, feel strange within a self-contained book. I guess it would be a surprise to tell you that the mysterious jewels are connected to Washu’s actual being—she is one of the three chousin, goddesses who created the universe of Tenchi Muyo. And coming back to her, did you find Washu’s story to be compelling?

Jeskai Angel: Compelling is such a squishy word, but yeah, I’d say the story was adequately compelling (enough that I wanted to read to the end, at least). The author was successful at portraying Washu as smart without making every other character a buffoon, which not all books with would-be clever protagonists pull off. And Washu turned out to be a really noble person (at least as far as this story is concerned?): her tireless efforts to see son again, plus her love great enough to let him go because she believed that was in his best interest, is quite impressive.

TWWK: Speaking of Washu’s intelligence, I wanted to get your take on this as someone also in this world—what did you think of how life was presented at the Academy versus your own experience in academia?

Jeskai Angel: In real life, grad school isn’t nearly as…hmm…zany as Washu’s experience. Also, I received some really generous financial aid, but the Juraians (sp?) took the idea of the graduate fellowship to pretty crazy extremes. I just wish real-life history PHDs were valued as highly as Juraian philosophy students. LOL. The emphasis on independent study is definitely true to life, however. That’s how writing a dissertation is, but even before that, college involves a lot of unstructured time that requires self-discipline to use.

TWWK: Interesting, though I imagine your FAFSA package didn’t provide a cavernous laboratory or office spaces, or a hundred maids and butlers!

Jeskai Angel: Yeah, my fellowships let me afford a small apartment, not a mansion or astronomical observatory.

TWWK: Alright, one more question and then I’ll give you the chance to talk about anything else you’d like. If this was just a one-volume work, what would you title it?

Jeskai Angel: Probably just “Washu.” Or maybe “Washu’s Love”? Nice ambiguous title with multiple meanings.

As for other thoughts inspired by the book… Can I just take a moment to rant about what a scummy coward Washu’s erstwhile husband was? Let me get this straight: you marry a woman, but are too cowardly to tell her your real name. You marry this woman, but instead leaving father and mother to cling to her, you still prioritize dear old dad’s political situation ahead of your wife. You marry this woman and have a kid with her, but instead of telling her you’re abandoning her and why, you just disappear with your son and never communicate your wife / your son’s mother ever again. And then when you this woman has come to visit, you hide so you won’t have to face her. Am I missing something? Is this guy not scum? He seems as much a jerk as Washu seems a noble, loving hero. I feel sorry for both this guy’s wives.

On a totally different note, the idea of wooden space ships makes no sense but sounds super cool. The casual reference to self-mutilating surgery as if it’s normal and reasonable (i.e. gender “reassignment”) was a little disturbing. The equally cavalier mention of porn was likewise problematic. It reflects the acceptance of porn as normal that I’ve noticed in various anime. If pornography is really as normal as Japanese media seem to imply, that says their society has serious trouble. Not that America has anything to boast of…

—

And that’s it for us this time around! We highly encourage you to pick up the volume if you haven’t yet, and Jurai and Yosho as well, which I would describe as better written works and nearly as compelling. And stay tuned next week, as we announce our twelfth (!) selection for the BtT Light Novel Club!

Featured illustration by スギシン (reprinted w/permission)

#light novels #tenchi muyo!#true tenchi muyo!#washu hakubi #btt light novel club #articles #author: twwk #Author: Jeskai Angel

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canvaswolfdoll · 6 years

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CanvasWatches: Dagashi Kashi

How did this get a dub?

Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful it got a dub, of course, since I enjoyed Degashi Kashi, but… how did an anime about Japanese Penny Candies/Snacks earn itself a dub? It’s so niche, so obscure, and so unlikely that American audiences would experience any of these foods for themselves,[1] that I wouldn’t even dream of it receiving a a Sub-only Release, let alone a dub. Heck, my even knowing about it was a combination of vaguely recalling some random bit from LoadingReadyRun discussing its upcoming release, and accidentally finding it through Funimation.

And it’s second season is also getting a Simuldub, which makes this series even more inexplicable, as it doesn’t strike me as a show that would inspire a revival.

Why does Dagashi Kashi have a dub? How does any of this happen?

I love anime.

(Spoilers below the page break)

Degashi Kashi is a slice of life comedy about a young boy who kind of wants to be a Mangaka, but whose dad wants him take over the family business: a Japanese Candy Store.[2] The young boy would rather not. Then a quirky, Degashi-obsessed girl arrives looking to recruit the father for her family’s snack company, but the father will not take the job unless his son will take over the family store.

Hilarity ensues. Also lot of trivia and history lessons about the Dagashi and its surrounding culture.

It’s a charmingly odd show that makes the most out of having only five cast members. There’s Kokonotsu (the noted son) his father Yo, Hotaru (the girl seeking to get Kokonotsu to take over the store) Saya (Cafe operator crushing on Kokonotsu) and Tou (Saya’s brother who looks like Dave Strider).

There’s pretty much no major plot to speak of, with only enough premise to carry the episodes between various Dagashi lessons.

Also some pretty tame fan service. And odd character designs.

The eyes are weird. Kokonotsu’s are mostly fine, as far as generic protagonist designs go, and Yo and Tou don’t have their eyes visible often enough for comment, but the girls have pretty out-there eyes.

Hotaru’s eyes are concentric circles, making her look a little crazed and possibly unearthly. Her design over all is pretty eccentric, as she’s dressed in a simplified gothic lolita style and is the only one without natural hair and eye color, but that I’m broadly used to, because… anime. She sticks out like a sore thumb, but that fits her role so I’m okay with her design.

Also, her dub voice is… unconventional. There’s a usual timbre and speaking pattern that I’ve grown to expect from female characters. Usually sweet and light, but able to range into comedic anger. A little wiggle room for personalization, but mostly samey.[3] Hotaru can have that quality, yes, but when she really gets going, it’s usually a little lower pitched, and there’s this vocal quirk that’s… very difficult to put into words, where she’s not actually putting on a mocking tone, but is next door to it in pattern.

Please try and find examples of this dub voice. I was surprised at first, but I quickly grew to like Tabitha Ray’s performance for sounding very distinct.[4]

Returning to eye criticisms, Saya looks constantly crazed.

Her irises remain constantly tiny. The thing about giant anime eyes is it allows space for fine tuning emotions. Normally, the pupils/irises take up about 40-60% of the total space, allowing space to make them grow to show interest or more emotion, or (as is more to the point) shrink to show shock or extreme anger or just a loss in mental stability.

There’s an expressive language one learns as they watch anime, and Saya is locked in the tiny iris end, so she looks like she’s supposed to be crazy, possibly planning on burning you alive with a scalding pot of coffee at any moment. But that isn’t her personality at all. Sure, her introductory scene was pretty textbook Tsundere, but she quickly eased into the Childhood Friend archetype, and either way, her shrunken eyes are unjustified. I got mostly used to the eyes, but it’s still poor design, since (ideally) character design should tell you something about the character, or at least be deliberately misleading.

Which leaves one last topic to discuss: Fanservice!

The portrayal of sexual elements is important for creators to consider. Good Art should hold a mirror to the human experience, and how an artist approaches the subject can say a lot.

Still, cultural norms and the ebb and flow of societal expectations, as well as the desire to draw in the target audience, makes the execution of fanservice fascinating to me. Where are the lines, on both a community level and personal level? Does the medium itself have an influence? Because a single misstep in fanservice can bring forth harsh criticism.

And, let me remind you that Avatar: the Last Airbender, one of the best animated series to broadcast on an American children’s television station, dedicated an episode to showing cute girls (and Zuko) at the beach in bathing suits. The oldest of whom was 16.[5]

So, Dagashi Kashi, to its credit, doesn’t feel fanservice-driven. Sure, some situations might be a little contrived (mostly surrounding Hotaru), but like the comedy of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, the show at least shows the steps that bring forth fanservice. And, to be honest, it’s pretty tame after the first episode. Mostly rain or sweat making Hotaru’s white shirt a little sheer to show off a little frill of her bra. Then the camera takes the perspective of Kokonotsu, who takes a very quick glimpse before averting his gaze.

Now, before I go further with my analysis, let me be clear: if the show cut all the fanservice scenes and took the maybe five total minutes they took (in twelve episodes) and expanded the Dagashi lessons, there would be no real loss. It’s superfluous material. But the fanservice shots also aren’t distracting nor derail the plot. They’re also mostly tasteful, and work is put in so the fanservice does work in context.

The element to execution that I think is most important is that it’s viewed through the the lense of youths, particularly Kokonotsu. No one’s ages are explicitly stated (not that I noticed, anyways), but there’s enough mention of homework that points to at least Kokonotsu, Saya, and Tou being school aged, most probably High Schoolers.[6] Hence, some awkwardness on the subject of romance and sex. So, yes, there will be some curious glances when the opportunity is presented.

Second, beside one scene concerning Saya, no one’s particularly victimized. The concept of fair consent is… curious when applied to fictional characters and the audience. It’s a debate that’s plagued superheroes for literal generations, and I’m not so foolish as to take a firm stance at this point.

So, setting aside arguments that fictional characters are inherently in a relationship of power imbalance with their writers,[7] in what cunning ways do you write a character (male or female) as being okay with a level of objectification?

You could have a character say they lack a nudity taboo, but that breaks the ‘Show, don’t Tell’ rule, and doesn’t clear accidental slips.

Dagashi Kashi manages to establish Hotaru’s lack of care in a such a blaze of insane glory that you don’t actually realize what the writers pulled until you’re writing a review spending an awkward amount of time discussing the show’s fanservice.

In the first episode, Saya meets Hotaru when the former sees the latter laying in the rice paddy she crashed into, coating her in mud. Being neighborly, Saya lets Hotaru use her shower. After which, Hotaru shows a casual disregard at being fully naked in front of both Saya and Tou. This is the most explicit scene in the series (in a PG-13 way) and is such obvious pandering, that you don’t even notice the show has taught you that Hotaru carries no reservations, so when the show very briefly shows off her body through the rest of the show, the audience knows Hotaru isn’t a victim.[8]

It’s a blatant, pandering scene that still serves a mechanical purpose. So that’s worth studying.

The only time either girl is victimized, it’s a transgression by Tou against Saya, when he uses a sticky hand to flip up her skirt. Credit to the direction, the camera stays firmly in front of her, where her skirt remained in place, and the audience sees nothing. Tou is also violently punished.[9] So the show went out of its way to show there’s a line: “accidental” fanservice from the indifferent Hotaru is kosher, intentional malice towards the unwilling Saya will not be justified by the camera.

I mean, obviously I’m not telling my fellow writers to showcase what they don’t think is okay to show, but I will say this: establish what you’re comfortable portraying and what you’re not, and try your best to inform the audience what the extreme is so they can decide if they’re on board.

Say whatever cynical thought you carry, I appreciate that many animes tend to front load the most egregious fanservice in the first episode, so after one episode you know what to expect.

Dagashi Kashi is a fun show, very educational about niche Japanese culture, and rife with things to overthink. Or not. The Japanese Snack trivia is a delight if you just want to watch at a surface level.

If you enjoyed this… frankly rambling navel-gazing review, consider supporting me on my patreon, checking out my webcomic or other works, or even just sending me questions or comments. Any support is nice. Helps me feel firm in following managka dreams instead of taking over the family candy store.

Except my family doesn’t have a candy store…

Man, why doesn’t my family own a rural candy store? That’d be cool.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Internet markets and subscription boxes aside. [2] Specifically a Degashi store, which seems to be a genre of Japanese snack foods. I cannot give further context, I’m afraid. [3] If I may have one quick dig at Japanese voice acting, girls always seem to have obnoxiously high pitched voices. [4] I should see if she’s done anything else. [5] A fact I present not as condemnation, but to provide an interesting perspective. I never see any debate over “The Beach”, which I think is also interesting. [6] I assume. Then again, Usagi of Sailor Moon is in middle school, so you can’t always trust your eyes. [7] Because it’s not a real person, and trying to apply such parameters to creator and creation is ridiculous. [8] And they don’t break the suspension of disbelief like Funimation did with Luccoa. [9] Now, the fact that this is a brother harassing his sister is a kettle of fish I will not dive into.

#CanvasWatches #dagashi kashi #CanvasReviews #anime

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