Month: May 2019

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Conventions Special Features

Anime Central 2019 – Women in Anime

Hi folks. As is my way, I’m making my panel materials available here for those who could either not attend our panel, or for those who’d like access to our supplemental materials (links, bibliography, etc.). You can download the PowerPoint presentation below:

Women in Anime – ACen 2019

For those who have been following for a while, there are no big differences between this version of the presentation and previous ones. However, there are a couple more links and we included some discussion items that came up during previous iterations of the panel. We had a little bit longer of a time frame this time, too, which was nice.

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Conventions Special Features

Anime Central 2019 – Kinema Citrus Panel

Anime Central is a convention that takes place every spring outside of Chicago, IL (USA). It’s been an annual event for over 20 years at the time of this writing, and it’s also one of the first anime conventions I ever attended as an itty-bitty otaku (after I wet my heels at the much smaller, more intimate Anime Iowa around 2002). This year was the first time I’d been back to the con after a 5 year hiatus; I have a tumultuous relationship with “big” (over 10K attendee) cons, and so I took a break after my last venture to regroup and figure out just what I was looking for in terms of convention experiences.

I’ll write more about the convention in general in a separate post. What’s relevant to this post is the fact that I wasn’t planning to attend this year’s Anime Central either until I saw some news about the guest list – members of animation studio Kinema Citrus, including staff members who performed key production roles on two of my recent favorite series (Made in Abyss and Revue Starlight) were slated to attend and speak. Because my local medium-sized convention rarely gets Japanese guests in the first place, and because both of those anime series affected me deeply, the con suddenly went from being a distant “maybe” to an absolute must-do event.

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Conventions Special Features

Anime Central 2019

Hi friends! My husband J.C. and I will be attending the Anime Central anime convention this upcoming weekend outside of Chicago, IL. I tend to stop by this convention about once every five years or so – this is the first time I’ve been back since 2014. I’m excited to see how the convention has changed and grown in the interim (and to spend a lot of money in the dealers’ room)!

As of now, our schedule is very light; we’re presenting one panel on Friday morning. But we’ll definitely be around, so if you see us, come say hi! Below is our “official” schedule (Note: if you’ve attended “Women in Anime” before, there won’t be much new material, but there’s always been a lively discussion in the past so it might be worthwhile to stop by).

Friday, May 17th

10:30am – 12:00pm, Panel Room 8 (Convention Center) : Women in Anime – a critical look at female characters and their portrayals in anime. We’ll discuss (generally) the good and the more challenging examples, and talk about ways to examine these portrayals through a critical eye. One thing to note is that this is meant to be an overall positive panel, so we’re not going to be spending energy picking at/insulting specifically bad/problematic examples. The purpose is meant to help viewers develop their critical eye and decide for themselves.

That’s it! If you’re going to be at the convention, I hope to see you there!

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2019 First Impressions – One Punch Man Season 2

An increase in villain activity has the Hero Organization worried that the “Earthdoom prophecy” will soon come to pass. In an effort to alleviate the overworked heroes, they turn to villains themselves for help. The decision looks ill-advised as at least one villain is more interested in helping the prophecy along than preventing it. – ANN

Streaming: Hulu

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Following Saitama’s climactic extraterrestrial conflict, things settle down a bit in M City. Saitama still serves in a mentorship role for cyborg hero Genos, though from the looks of it Genos is pretty capable of handling himself. Unfortunately, the appearance rate of lower-level baddies has increased quite a bit, so there’s little time for rest and relaxation. As they soon discover, a new S-Class hero named “King” has been getting quite the reputation lately. When King makes an appearance, his threatening aura intimidates evil-doers and excites his adoring public. Saitama is curious enough about the man that he decides to follow King and watch as he does battle with a giant, rampaging cyborg foe.

As it turns out, King’s reputation is just that – only a reputation. He just happens to be someone whose bad luck attracts bad guys, but no matter how many confrontations he has, it’s always someone else who punches out the antagonists in the end. Saitama uncovers this during a video-gaming session with King. In exchange, Saitama recommends a strength-building regimen to help the poser gain some confidence (this is, of course, as Saitama destroys a winged monster one-handed). In the meantime, the Hero Association is struggling to address the culmination of a prophecy, which seems imminent due to the increased criminal activity in the region. They choose to take an unorthodox route in addressing this by welcoming all of the city’s low-level thugs and inviting them to join forces. Some seem to be on board with this, but there are others whose motivations seem directly opposed to cooperation.

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Special Features

The Complexities of Motherhood

Please Note: This post contains character and plot spoilers for several anime series and films, including A Place Further Than the Universe, The Promised Neverland, Made in Abyss, and Mirai.

Last year around Mothers’ Day, I used the opportunity to feature one of my favorite anime mothers from the previous year. While I’d originally wanted to do the same thing this year, I ran into a bit of an issue – nothing that I’d watched from the past year or so struck me as having a really central, memorable mother (or mother-type) character who wasn’t already missing or dead. Too often, nurturing family members are sacrificed at the altar of “character development,” allowing a protagonist to develop pathos as their earthly familial connections are ripped away in return. This leaves one with very few choices of motherly role-models. This isn’t to say that there weren’t great moms this year, but I was unfortunately not lucky enough to view anything in which a mother’s story was detailed, complete, and plot-central.

As someone still attempting to become a mother, even as the world around me does its best to demonstrate its hostility toward me and other women (mothers or not), what I’m consistently reminded of is the fact that motherhood itself is a complicated and messy state of being, filled with decisions that have no correct answers. While I hesitate to assert that all mothers have their children’s best interests in mind (unfortunately, abusive situations exist and I think it would be unjust to folks who’ve experienced them to say otherwise), I do believe that the majority of parents out there are trying to do the best with what resources they have. I think that anime and manga might honestly be better at featuring the messier aspects of parenthood than the average, mostly-positive ones that (hopefully) exist in reality.

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Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2019 First Impressions – Fairy Gone

Fairies possess and reside within animals, granting them special powers. By surgically removing and transplanting the organs of a possessed animal into a human, humans can partially summon the fairy and use it as a weapon. Eventually, such individuals were used for war, and were called “Fairy Soldiers.” After a long war, these soldiers lost their purpose, and had to reintegrate into society. Nine years after the end of the war, Maria is a fresh recruit of “Dorothea,” an organization dedicated to the investigation and suppression of fairy-related crimes and incidents. Even in peacetime, the government is still unstable after the war. Many criminals still have lingering wounds from the previous conflict, and there are terrorist groups bent on revenge. – ANN

Streaming: Funimation and Hulu

Episodes: 24

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Several years ago, Marlya Noel witnessed the destruction of her home village and was one of only two survivors of the carnage. Nowadays she works as security, hoping to meet back up with Veronica, her fellow escapee. Backstage at an auction house, Marlya marvels at the fairy-related artifacts being bid-upon, though her distracting curiosity draws the ire of Free, the man running the security operation. As bidding commences on a page from a coveted underground tome, the action is interrupted by violence from the hand and heart of a beautiful blond woman. Marlya, as she defends the patrons, is shocked to discover that the woman is, in fact, Veronica.

There is no touching reunion, as Veronica seems uninterested in reminders of her former life. In the struggle, both Veronica and Free reveal their own powerful nature, battling one-another via their terrifying fairy avatars. What Marlya discovers is that, as a survivor of her village, she has this ability as well; she inadvertently joins with a fairy primordial when a fairy bottle breaks. As the violence dies down, Marlya learns that her very existence is illegal under the current government, but Free offers her an out; as an operative of “Dorothea,” he helps hunt down and regulate the use of this forbidden magic. Marlya chooses his outstretched hand – for the time being.

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First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2019 First Impressions – Midnight Occult Civil Servants

Arata Miyako is a new government worker assigned to the Shinjuku Ward Office’s “Nighttime Regional Relations” department. Each of Tokyo’s 23 wards has one such department, which were established to solve paranormal and occult-related events. Arata can understand non-human speech that no one else understands, and he encounters a yōkai (supernatural entity) at Shinjuku Gyoen park that calls him Abe no Seimei — the name of a historical Japanese occultist and diviner. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Arata Miyako begins his job without a clear image of what it might entail, but he soon realizes that he wasn’t hired to perform typical government work; the Office of Nighttime Relations is focused on maintaining the order of Tokyo’s many residents – including those of the supernatural variety. Arata begins his evening unaware of fairies and tengu, but soon realizes that the nighttime world is filled with those supernatural creatures, and many others.

The team has been summoned to the park in order to research some odd disturbances, and what they discover is that the tengu and angels are at odds over something. Arata happens to find out the source of the conflict – an angel and tengu have fallen in love, and neither of their families is happy about it. Arata learns this because he seems to have the rare ability to understand non-human language, though it takes some convincing for his colleagues to believe it. Arata is able to help the two groups reach a truce, though no sooner have they flown off into the night sky then he’s approached by an old tengu who calls him by an unfamiliar name.

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First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2019 First Impressions – Cinderella Nine

Newly-minted high schooler Tsubasa has a plan: she wants to start a girls’ baseball team at Rigahama High. Unfortunately for her, instead of going through proper channels, Tsubasa lets her enthusiasm (and maybe her friend Tomoe’s words) carry her away, and she charges onstage during the club presentation assembly to make her call for members. Although her homeroom teacher supports her efforts, and despite getting two potential members in the form of super-shy Ukita and slightly-leery Nozaki, the student council remains opposed to the team. That’s not going to keep Tsubasa down, though – the girl’s nothing if not enthusiastic and devoted to her dream. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Smartphone Game

Episode Summary: Baseball is an uncommon school sport for girls, but Tsubasa aims to change that by forming a team at her high school. She commandeers the entrance ceremony to advertise this venture, drawing all of the wrong kinds of attention. She does, however, catch the eye of Ukita, a shy girl with an interest in baseball, and Nozaki, a girl with an uncomfortable past in team sports. Though both girls are apprehensive, the circumstances align and they join Tsubasa and her friend Tomoe for an informal practice session and pickup game near the river.

Truth be told, neither girl has the skills of a practiced baseball player, but they both show potential. Once Nozaki learns that she can play left-handed, her throws start to impress. And though Ukita definitely needs to work on her confidence, she has a lot of heart. When they play a game against a group of younger kids, all the girls start to get a sense of how fun baseball can be. The camaraderie, the cheer of the audience, and the sound of the ball hitting the sweet spot of the bat is addictive. Perhaps this club might have a chance at success.

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