Anime and Manga

I have never watch AKIRA all the way though, I had only seen the main motorcycle chase and knew that it was the most expensive anime at the time. I did not know that this was not made by a singular company, but when watching it I could see slight variations in the animation. So far I can see why this film was so popular for it was so different for the time. I could also see the strong 80's influence, especially in the clothing and hairstyles. Honestly so far, I am not a huge fan. All these kids are annoying to me for this pushes for kids who are rebellious and rude are the cool ones and they treat women badly and overall just dirty. But, I get it, it makes sense for this story and time. It is beautifully animated and the characterization is important being anti-war/anti-military stances. Yet, they are terrorists who I do not really root for. You can't really take a stance, no one is really the 'good' ones. The main biker gang of the kids may be the only ones who you fee...

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QAqD4kexB7g-CKu7fWzzTOIzFvItLl6X7FGW6I9GzsE/edit?usp=sharing

Along with 'My Lesbian Experience', I actually really like reading Shojo ai/yuri manga. I had not had the chance til not to read 'My Lesbian Experience', but I enjoyed the book. I see why it was so critically acclaimed and felt more like a retelling of life verses a story. I would not say the overall story was satisfying, it almost felt like a documentary with some humor. With the illustrations along with the overall story, it is a very moving piece that gives a good perspective on her life experience. Overall I would definitely recommend the book to others to see what it could be like for someone who is gay. Another story I am currently reading, it is still coming out weekly, is 'The Mage and the Demon Queen'. This is a story about a world that basically works like a video game, where there is usually a Demon King controlling the area and people train to become knights and mages in order to defeat the Demon King and become ruler. The Demon King is whomever is...

In the film, there is a strong use of visuals, especially with the rain. This gives the environment almost a magical, other worldly feel that one can not express as well in live action. There is immense detail given to the environment and to the symbolic elements of the film. Shoes play an important part. Yukino, we would see every shoe that she wore through his eyes. Compared to American animation, the details in the background make the background an extremely important part of the film verses American where often this is to help the characters stand out. There is a much slower pace, living in the moment parts in this film that really slows down the narrative in comparison to American films. Compared to Ghibli, a lot of the moments played a lot on the emotions of the characters much like Ghibli does. Depending on the emotions of the characters, the rain would change. Often the weather would almost turn fantastical, especially with the final storm scene, which reminded me of some of th...

I really enjoyed George's presentation. I found the parallels of Miyazaki's life to his films to be very interesting. When thinking about his films I can see where he brought his influences. 'The Tale of the White Snake' is a film that I had never heard of, but will definitely be checking out. I also want to read 'Starting Point'. George is very knowledgeable, I appreciated the anecdotes he would have about the industry and that he had a reason for each tidbit he showed us. I had actually seen the 1957 film, 'The Snow Queen" and can see the innovation and masterful work that this film possesses. I know that you need to step up and do extra stuff to move in a company. You will only be able to success if you go above and beyond. I liked hearing about this with Miyazaki for a lot of people say he is the best, perfect, and has always been, which isn't true. I had not seen Castle of Cagliostro, but I really enjoyed analyzing the car chase scene. Showin...

Princess Jellyfish, Ouran Host Club, and Chihayafuru Chihaya are the three manga I decided to read this week. For all of these, I had watched and loved the anime adaptions. Ouran Host Club is personally one of my favorite anime of all time. This was one that I saw around the 8th grade and I loved the comedy and the overall twist on the 'Senpai' love story. Without realizing it at the time, this was a pretty progressive story. Haruhi crossdresses, kisses a girl, has a crossdressing dad, the twins portray 'boys love' and more, and whats great about this is that no one questions these characters in any way. When the boys meet Haruhi's dad, they are not even that shocked to see him dressed as a women, they just say 'ah so he crossdresses' and go and introduce themselves. Princess Jellyfish is another work that I truly loved and watch as it was releasing each week and was sad that they did not continue the story in the manga. The characters are so lively and th...

Question for Scholar: 1) What would you say is the most influential Manga/Anime you have seen / your personal favorite? 2) Is there any Manga/Anime that you would recommend? When reading this in class I immediately recognized it from the Literature of Comics class. I remember watching the film adaptation you showed in class and being horrifies and greatly saddened by what I saw. When rereading the comic, the artistic interpretation of the victims is just as haunting. I will say that I did find the film to be a bit more striking to me as a viewer for the added screams and the visuals of people literally melting away and falling apart struck me harder than the comic. Saying that, the comic certainly does its job in having the viewer catch a glimpse of what Keiji went through during the bomb. I could not even begin to imagine what that would have been like, especially being only six years old, and to see most of your family disappear in an instant. Keiji does a phenomenal job of hav...