— — — —— — —
×
— —— —
— — — —— — —
×
— —— —
— — — —— — —
×
— —— —
It's not an awful movie but the big names really had me expecting more. I guess having the writer of Madoka Magica and the director of AoT making a family friendly show just isn't the best use of their talents. Bubble lacks the punch of the other Urobuchi's works I've seen. Urobuchi came up with Uta's extraterrestrial existence (hey Urobucher fans, remember Saya no Uta and Madoka Magica?) and likely the human existential crisis script, but someone else came up with the overall plot. Namely, Araki (AoT director) and Kawamura (Your Name producer) came up with the Little Mermaid idea, with Araki wanting to write a romance where meeting someone breaks you out of your shell.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2022-04-14/bubble-anime-film-making-of-video-reveals-how-the-dream-team-assembled/.184608
https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/bubble-anime-director-tetsuro-araki-interviewThe motifs are interesting but are undermined by shallow plot and drama. I'm just gonna touch on a few I see. Feel free to add on.
First: the existential crisis. All the stuff about the circle of life and how we are all going to die and everything is going to end someday. Classic Urobuchi darkness. But it's poorly resolved. The show tells you that it's ok because even though you will die, you will reunite with everyone because we are all gonna turn into dust and gather in a whirlwind and give birth to something new. If that comforts you, good for you. For me, I don't really find happiness in my dust clumping with other people's dust. I mean, we shed skin and we poop and both are already pretty good fertilizers. I prefer the message we're all gonna die so treasure the time we have with the people love. So how's the love between Hibiki and Uta then? Well in my very personal opinion, I found it mediocre.So uh... about their love. Let's break it down.
1) Importance of physical attraction. Uta is an extraterrestrial lifeform. A bubble that turns into a girl. She identifies as a girl, but is it before or after she took human form, or after identifying as the little mermaid upon hearing the story? The bubble had a very light feminine voice (in contrast to Hibiki's deep voice) before she took the girl's form, so I can go along with the bubble's been assigned to be a she to make stuff work since the beginning.
But how is the extraterrestrial lifeform's gender/sex defined? Do bubbles have gender/sex like humans or are they all female? What does "female" even mean for bubbles? What if their sex depends on the gender ratios like clown fish? (yeah Nemo's dad should have turned into mom, Disney got it wrong) What if Uta didn't see an idol girl printed on the subway ad but saw a Tanjiro cosplayer instead and took his form, would Hibiki still love her/him/them? I have a feeling the answer's no. Hibiki's attraction to Uta has a strong emphasis on her childlike innocence (basically needed to be taught everything) and feminine beauty once she is in physical form. If Uta turns into an ugly old man Hibiki wouldn't fall in love with Uta. And if Uta is a bubble that can talk and feel like a human, but only ever meet Hibiki and the audience as a bubble, I doubt Hibiki would feel physically attracted to Uta. With very Earthen populist heteronormative standards, extraterrestrial Uta is made (with human standards) for Hibiki to fall in love with little thought or explanation otherwise. If you look at Saya from Saya no Uta, Urobuchi actually fleshes out her extraterrestrial background, how she chose to identify as a girl, and addresses the reality called physical attraction. Isn't Saya so much more human than Uta, who blinks into embodying earthen culture?2) Uta is written for Hibiki to fall in love with and has no purpose elsewhere. She's a paper-flat manic pixie dream girl. We don't really understand anything about her life before meeting "the man of the story". The Little Mermaid had at least that, which is what made the question of "is love worth losing everything?" a compelling one. Bubble doesn't have anything near that. Uta's not much to begin with (we don't even know if she was happy or not under the sea); only meeting and falling in love with a boy can be the catalyst of her journey; and while she doesn't retain human form, she can still be with him in the end and that's why she's happy.
I'm tired of this stereotypical girl can only become happy and gain stuff when she falls in love/marry y'all. I can just watch Cinderella, Disney Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rising of the Shield Hero, and often any number of harem anime for this. This stereotype saturation is precisely why I don't find Uta X Hibiki to be a standout couple who are worth my attention. But wait! Doesn't meeting Uta change Hibiki for the better? Isn't that impactful?3) Overreliance on fate (and tropes) to replace real emotional bonding. I can buy that Hibiki feels unable to connect with people because he has sensitive hearing. But both his and Uta's ability to hear waves and bubbles and that's what kinda lead them to meet and to bond is wishful writing. Hibiki is troubled, withdrawn due to trauma, unable to stand loud people. Uta's mysterious, cute, quiet, backgroundless. They share a magical sound connection and meet. Thanks to that and Uta's quietness, Hibiki shares his trauma, found that he doesn't hate sounds anymore thanks to Uta's magical singing, and comes out of his shell quickly. And so they fall in love. I think there is an overreliance on fate and overuse of tropes- on them sharing special abilities and Uta being the manic pixie dream girl, on Uta being quiet and on being the gentle girl. For me, their bond felt shallow. Which means.
The whole theme of meeting someone and breaking out of your shell is also botched. I think it's not well explored. It's like hoping a girl with magic will drop out of the sky and save you as opposed to meeting someone amazing who you realize you can learn from, and gradually you find the courage to open up.
The shallowness is why the love feels insignificant and why the drama and even the boy saves girl and girl risks human form to save boy fails at emotional impact. For this movie trying to be about emotional connection, I felt nothing even though I cried watching Psycho-pass.
Again, this is a family friendly happy anime. The plot is average and even Disney would have fleshed out the lore. It's a happy-go-lucky and average story but with striking color, beautiful animation, and awe- and danger- inspiring parkour sequences for kids to attempt and replicate. It's not really meant for Urobuchi fans who are expecting dark themes and intriguing moral questions, or Araki fans who are expecting bloody and feisty battles. It was a 6/10 for me.
East Asian, yep that one's a freebie, yes, yes, thanks!
@heartbre4k
Race: caucasian
Age: 16
Gender: male
Sexuality: straight
Extra Comments: I'm tempted to say female bc it's estimated that 52% of One Piece readership is female.Nice try. I actually don't really think of Lelouch as a self insert character because he is beautifully flawed. In fact, I'd argue that his character breaks out of the self insert fantasy because he learns through his mistakes and grows through the error of his ways. Characters like these aren't self inserts. If anything, they are closer to criticizing self insert fantasies.
You like that, despite not having any special powers, he is knowledgeable, smart, brave, and unyielding in face of adversity. He is loyal to his friends, dependable, and the best caretaker/cook you can ask for.
I think there are very through analysis and explanations of why/how shield hero defends slavery and sexim. I also think that the message of fiction matters, or at least enough for people to pay attention to what they are consuming, because:
The stories we tell each other and the stories we find acceptable shape our expectations in real life
https://medium.com/@moblack.tgu8/you-ever-just-incel-so-hard-you-justify-slavery-on-the-rising-of-the-shield-hero-2-3-95120513d4e1
-
cites specific events of Naofumi's abuse of Raphtalia
-
explains the cycle of abuse
-
gives you dialogue transcripts and anaylzes them, eg:
(M)otoyasu: I heard that Raphtalia is your slave.
(N)aofumi: And what if she is?
M: You…
N: Raphtalia is my slave. So what?
M: Listen! It’s not right to enslave others!
N: Listen to yourself. Slavery is legal in this country anyway.
M: But we’re heroes from another world! We can’t behave that way here!
N: That’s just your opinionThe first owns a slave, and the second confronts the first, claiming that slavery is morally wrong. The first responds that “it’s legal anyway” and “that’s just your opinion”.
Now, then. Open your eyes. Which one of the two is the protagonist? Which the antagonist?......Shield Hero will go so far as to defend the institution of slavery to sell you on itself. The show makes its current fans Naofumi, its detractors the Spear Hero, and argues that opposing slavery, in this context anyway, is morally wrong. -
this is part 2. part 1 & part 3:
https://medium.com/mos-home-for-treatises-and-hot-takes/you-ever-just-incel-so-hard-you-justify-slavery-on-the-rising-of-the-shield-hero-1-3-f2707605ad47
https://medium.com/mos-home-for-treatises-and-hot-takes/you-ever-just-incel-so-hard-you-justify-slavery-on-the-rising-of-the-shield-hero-3-3-480fe0d42371
- amazingly, this finds the similarity in Raphtalia's justifications of slavery with that of 18th century anti-abolitionists, that slavery can be good because it feeds the enslaved black people or in shield hero's case, demihumans (ew).
- it also suggests that the entertainment industry has a money motive in promoting content with isekai waifus, smearing real women, and telling you that your real life can never be as good as the isekai anime you watch or the video games you play, and as an anime lover/gamer I find this to be an interesting argument
- this is part of the essay series. part 2 & part 3:
https://medium.com/@moblack.tgu8/real-women-dont-love-you-but-your-waifu-will-stick-around-long-enough-to-make-a-profit-2-3-1b1b61a0b933
https://medium.com/@moblack.tgu8/real-women-dont-love-you-but-your-waifu-will-stick-around-long-enough-to-make-a-profit-3-3-5db4c605a508
And if you are tired of hearing criticisms from a Brazilian or a white male, here is a feminist voice that is more gentle on Shield Hero:
https://www.animefeminist.com/power-oppression-and-victimhood-in-the-twelve-kingdoms-versus-the-rising-of-the-shield-hero/On the false rape accusation, I have to agree with the first source (You ever incel so hard you justify slavery) again. The problem isn't that a false rape accusation is used
While, according to all reliable statistics on the issue, false rape accusations make up a remote minority of all rape cases, something being rare doesn’t mean it never happens. Furthermore, false rape accusations were used as a tool of oppression against minorities throughout history, most notably against black men in the Jim Crow United States, Apartheid South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, and Colonial Kenya. These accusations also play a role in negative stereotypes of gay men. So employing a false rape allegation may, if done right, be more social-justicy than you might have realized. The horror!
the problem is the character that the accusation is portrayed through. It's portrayed through Malty, the most hated character and woman in the story.
Myne happens to be one of the few free (non-slave) recurring female characters on the show with any real influence on the plot. Thus, the writers’ intentions or not, ...... she’s kind of a stand-in for women in general. ......It’s obvious this one plot points comes from a dark place that views the idea of women in power over men as dangerous, traitorous, and promiscuous. It’s a really old sexist trope that feeds off male insecurities around relinquishing social privileges to the other sex.
Point is, I totally understand why anyone would hate Shield Hero with a passion and talk about it. Is it too far to call Shield Hero a crime? Perhaps, since something can be harmful without being illegal. Click-baiting could be part of the motive for the video's title. However, I agree with the video's logic that social and sensitive issues should be handled with care and respect, and not in a way that intentionally defends marginalizing or hurting other people to pander to the audience. Shield Hero spectacularly fails at this for both slavery and false rape accusations.
-
I think around ch70 is when the addiction gets serious. If you like complex characters and development tho, Nana is worth every second of your time.
@Meddle if it will help you with your research, it would be interesting to note that Naofumi (MC of Shield Hero) does some bad things but is still appealing to the audience. His treatment of Raphtalia is pretty cruel (https://www.animefeminist.com/power-oppression-and-victimhood-in-the-twelve-kingdoms-versus-the-rising-of-the-shield-hero/) but he gains sympathy from the audience through his victmhood.
What are some of the anime/manga that you've seen that have great plot (or other) twists? If you are diving into the specifics, use a spoiler tag.
Here are my top 5.
5 Code Geass (S1-S2)
Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion
As the story nears its end, events are still spiraling out of control and you have to wonder how Lelouch plans to get them together. Lelouch’s plan (and the message of the anime) doesn’t disappoint! The ending was a little idealistic, in my opinion. But for what it was worth, I enjoyed it immensely!
4. Rokka Braves of the Six Flowers
Rokka Braves of the Six Flowers
Applications of science and deductive reasoning in a fantasy setting? You heard me right. Aside from the anime, the LN also offers plenty of interesting twists. It’s on indefinite hiatus though, but (hopefully) if that doesn’t hold you back from watching the anime, pay attention to the lore and the sequence of events as Adelet and Nashetania approach and enter the rendezvous point.
3. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
If you are holding back because it’s a magical girl anime, let go of your expectations for a typical magical girl anime. Madoka Magica has some mind blowing twists in store. And afterwards, you’ll remember Gen Urobuchi.
2. Pandora Hearts (the manga)
Once you finish Pandora Hearts, it's hard to not be amazed by how cohesive it is. For most of the twists, you can tell that they were planned from the very, very beginning, from the moment Oz and Gil find the pocket watch on the tombstone, and from the moment Oz was dropped into the Abyss. The anime badly spoils one of the biggest twists in the last episode tho, so if you want the best experience, I recommend switching to the manga after ep 16 with volume 9.
1. Attack on Titan
I told my brother that AoT “did a 180” with the end of S3. The tone went from hot-blooded shounen to cold-blooded seinen (at least in Eren’s case). The other characters had to retain some of the original passion. For better or for worse, ep 57-59 revealed the shocking revelation that not only reframed the entire narrative, but also the tone of the series and the objectives of its characters.
a) Nana
you'll have to read pretty far to get to Ren's addictioni second
@rcfox Doppio is a character written badly with out of date pseudo psychology instead of psychology used for medical practice. Multi-personality disorder is wrongly coined on biased cases instead of actual studies. Psychologists have since discredited the term multi-personality disorder. They use Dissociative Personality Disorder instead because the disorder doesn't actually involve multiple personalities stuck in one body.
If you like the storyline that is driven by character conflicts, I recommend Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. It's not similar to Nana in terms of art styles or setting, but it's a very well-written drama with complex, layered characters.
Hachiko! I think she has the most character development so far.
so excited
especially knowing the KnowName did their music and they are working on Spy X Family
I just finished rewatching Grimgar. I may have to move on to the LN.
lol I know that Naruto is on the dropped list but it's not because of the plot; in fact, the plot was great. I was just tired of the fillers and dragging on so I read the manga instead.