There Is No Way Out (of Fandom Discontentment)

It was perhaps written somewhere that I would be unable to go until October without voicing myself about Tiger & Bunny again. Well, I was bored and I watched episode 19 three times, okay?

Reading fandom reaction, and being consumed in my very thoughts, has led me to write a few considerations about what changed between my first impression of Tiger & Bunny all the way back in May, and what happens now that the show has turned a new leaf for itself. Be warned that this post contains spoilers for the latest episodes, so if you aren’t caught up, don’t go blaming me.

The Female Perspective

After some very frustrated tweets, and some not so bad, I decided to write a few impressions on the female characters of the anime I’m watching this season, so my tweets don’t make me sound like I hate my own gender (I could have fooled myself?!).  Brace for personal opinions.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai

 

 

Going alphabetically makes this easier, since AnoHana actually features some of my favorite  females this season.

 

The Underrated Heroes

Masked heroes. Supernatural powers. Fighting crime on the TV Screen. The audience cheers. The heroes save the day.

Could this story still work, at this time and age?

Except it does, and does it very well.

Reaching out for the truth, Persona 3 vs Persona 4

It is now April 4th, 2011, the day after I finally finished Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES that I began in January. Also in January, two years ago, I had started Persona 4. The only reason I played 4 before 3 was because the fourth installement had just come out, and well, I just happened to grab hold of it first. The first few minutes were magical; I was intantly hooked and loved to play it, especially on rainy days, when the day outside would coincide with the rainy day in-game. The soundtrack was marvelous, the characters, endearing. I only stopped when I got the True Ending and thought it was about time to start the much appraised prequel. Unfortunately, the magic in that one didn’t last long; after three months of neglected playthrough, I started the game to find my data corrupted. Everything, gone. I was crushed and, if I was dissatisfied with the pace of the game by then, that made me shun it for years. I couldn’t possibly comprehend why fans vocally defended that 3 was so much better than 4.

Having finished both, I can finally gather my thoughts on the matter.

from literature girl to literature girl

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Bungaku Shoujo movie and OVAs.

 

I don’t know how exactly Bungaku Shoujo managed to go by unnoticed by me. It might have been my lack of enthusiasm with the anime scene and how seasons didn’t appeal to me as they once did, or how I was actually caring about college for once. It wasn’t until I saw pictures for the Touko Amano Nendoroid that I finally found the series and thought, “That girl is eating book. I have to check this out now”.

So I finally managed to watch this last week, and… At first words fail me. Because I don’t think there are many anime out there that seem to fit me so well, but this one just does. It wasn’t just the literature, or just the love story. Everything makes one endearing piece that only Touko and her refined taste could be able to describe.

Girl eats books. I’d be more than glad to do it metaphorically but Touko, she just goes for the literal. That premise had everything to be weird, but as the characters approach it, it is not that big of a deal. It is Touko herself, the Literature Girl, in her entirety, that gives the movie that magnificent touch.

The Reign of Terror – Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts

I don’t quite remember how I met Joe Hill. Maybe it was during one of my daily explorations through online bookstores and what they have to offer. Somehow, I came across Heart-shaped Box and was intrigued by the title alone since I, myself, often have the habit of baptizing my writings with song titles. Reading the synopsis made me even more interested; ghosts and curses and the supernatural. Sometimes I can be easily sold. Googling up the author’s name, I was hit with the unexpected: Joe Hill was actually Joseph Hillstrom King, son of the contemporary Master of Terror himself. I had no idea Stephen King’s sons were writers, much less in the same genre of fiction.

So naturally this meant I had to own every book he has ever written. I started with 20th Century Ghosts, being an anthology, and while I wanted to read it right away, it was the middle of the college semester and I was really supposed to be writing a thesis on Edgar Allan Poe. Thesis finished, I picked it up from my endless pile of unread books to start off my summer reading routine.

My Gender Cannot Be This Ignored

Another season has started. It is Fall 2010, and around 30 new anime titles are beginning. Of those, at least half contain, in one way or another, a considerable amount of fanservice that is not aimed at females, varying from panty-shots, high sexual content, mentions of incest, etc. On a less sexual dimension, there are the ever-present violent titles, be it in content or art style, the mecha, and generally new series that have little to no character focus. Although every person has their own preferences, we can safely say that girls are not the primary target audience for that kind of content.

Excluding shows revolving around those themes, we’re left with shoujo, josei, BL and certain slice of life. But, with the exception of slice of life, how many shoujo, josei and BL titles are actually adapted to the screen, every season?