Week 7: Madoka Magica

Madoka Magica puts a really dark twist on the magical girl anime stories. In the end, the hero doesn't end up really winning, and there's a lot of sadness and touchy subjects like depression which contrast the fun and colorful set or character designs. On the surface there's a lot of relationship and boy romance stuff on the top but the that wasn't the main focus. behind the scenes the girls in the show are fighting for their lives in an endless loop, each monster they kill is one of their past friends who were consumed by the "darkness" which is an allegory to the depression within young girls who are transitioning to adulthood. The witches in the show are magical girls of the past who were once like the protagonists full of spirit. Madoka on the hand was something special. The art style of madoka is very cool because they use multimedia in their fights. A lot of the witches have themes, and through the use of stop motion and cutout images and patterns they show themes of chaos and disorder. That is why I think it stands out comparatively from other shojo magical girl shows, is because it uses a unique art form to japanese anime.

Week: 6 Death Note

This week I wanted to revisit a Manga that I read/watched when I was a kid, and now that I have more of an appreciation for analyzing manga, I wanted to sit down and revisit the books and talk about what I think now. Death Note really helped popularize the crime/mystery genre for manga and fully integrated its self in pop culture with numerous spin offs, extended manga on specific characters like Lite, and even a live action movie. The overall themes that I picked up while rereading the books stem from a lot of political routed Ideas like liberty versus security. Morality is a strange line that can easily be blurred into corruption due to a "just" cause. Is killing someone who is evil moral? or is it immoral to kill someone even if there evil in the name of justice. Another theme I noticed in the book was the theme of religion and ego. Light is essentially playing god in the book because he gets to decide who lives and who dies. The original writes Takeshi Obata said in an interview "nobody should play god" and its almost fitting redemption at the end of the series when light dies. This plays a lot with the Idea of light and dark because and also its Irony. Light is actually evil but in his head, Hes doing the right thing. L is the good and light because hes trying to take down the one who is disrupting the laws of justice. The real question is, who is good and who is bad. I found that its all in perspective which is the thing that makes it interesting.

Week 5: Oran highschool

Ouran HighSchool Host Club is actually one of my favorite animes/manga of all time. I'ts a perfect blend of humor and slice of life, and plays a funny spin on the silver spoon life. I feel like this book calls to japans modern culture and themes. I know a lot of anime and gaming, or even more spesific things like yaoi are sensationalised and intigrated into bars and cafes around japan. Women and men go to these places to get courted and wooed into a very unique experience. Similarly Ouran host club is aimed at that type of audience, where these guys are playing spesific "types" of people. In this manga however, its very saterised and played up in a commediac way playing all the troupes, like the quiet smart cool guy, or the seductive twins, or just the outright handsome dream guy with too much confidence. Thats where I feel like the protagonist, Haruhi plays a very unique role, Shes a woman. It takes untill the end of the first episode for them to realise this and I find it intresting that this show kinda thins the line of looks and presentation which then creates this weird yet charming dynamic of the group. I feel like she fits right into the club, but the people shes courting as a host are completely oblivious of the fact that shes a girl. Similalry in most of the real host clubs in japan, guys take up a very femanin aesthetic and have more of a soft spot personality.