Tagged: Anime
Modern Media Consumption (II) – Worldbuilding, Sidestories and Transmedia (Part 1)
As a writer, and especially as one of science-fiction, I thoroughly enjoy creating settings; the act of sitting down and designing a world is genuinely interesting to me, because it is a kind of creativity that is not simply telling a story. The writer has the opportunity to flesh out the detail of a setting to make it believable to them, which in turn makes it far easier to write or create stories within.
The Power of Song – Wish Fulfillment in Episode 5 of Macross Frontier
The climax of the scene – Ranka’s song has the Zentradi crowding to see what the fuss is about.
The defining moment of SDF Macross, and even more explicitly its film version Do You Remember Love is the moment where, on hearing music for the first time, the war-hungry Zentradi stop and listen. It marks the point in both stories where the narrative’s course changes and mankind stands a chance of winning. I mentioned in my article on The Wings of Goodbye how this is certainly a problematically imperialist kind of victory – one based on destruction of a way of life in favour of elevating the literal savage – but nevertheless, it has a certain power in how it is depicted and the juxtaposition in Do You Remember Love of utter discord in the enemy ranks as they are touched by the power of what the characters call “just a love song” is a great scene.
I Fought The Power, But Who Really Won? (Or, A Detailed Look at Gurren Lagann, Part II – The Remaining Episodes)
NOTE: This article is also available at Super Fanicom here
NOTE: Readers should begin with Part I here
This article forms the conclusion to this retrospective on Gurren Lagann, focusing on how the series, having established a flawed depiction of human bloody-mindedness, then completely shatters any preconceptions the viewer might have in an unsympathetic depiction of the failure of the attitudes presented as having the potential to work in its first half.
NOTE: While the first part focused in some detail on the plot, this second part will go into significant levels of detail which will very likely affect the enjoyment of someone planning to watch it. Be careful!
Piercing the Heavens or Just Digging Yourself A Deeper Hole? (Or, A Detailed Look at Gurren Lagann, Part I – Episodes 1-16)
NOTE: This article is also available at Super Fanicom here
This article, and a subsequent continuation focusing on the remaining episodes of the series, much like my earlier one on Code Geass, will take the form of an extended retrospective over a complete series; this one concerns the 2007 series Gurren Lagann. The series is well liked for its visual style, soundtrack and dynamic action sequences that throughout the show consistently outdid the previous extremes in terms of scale and spectacle. However, while this spectacle and focus on new, more powerful weapons was a major flaw of Code Geass in that it did not fit the sci-fi world the series depicted, in Gurren Lagann it is integral to the plot and, once the initial adrenaline rush of seeing some new machine or weapon deployed passes, is used to a very different end.
Note: This article will be discussing the plot and ending of the series – do not read on if you do not want to be spoiled about later developments.
A Child Among Children (Immaturity and Parent Figures in Episode 6 of Eureka Seven)
Note: This article is also available at Super Fanicom here.
Readers will notice I have not written specifically about episode 5; this is because I feel that skipping it at this time and looking instead at the contrast between episodes 3-4 and 6 is more interesting. In the first few episodes of the series, the protagonist Renton is established as having a very inflated opinion of himself, and his attempts at establishing himself as a peer to the disinterested Holland are met with consistent reminders of his place within the Gekko’s crew – as a new, junior member. Episode 5 introduces in some more detail the character of Talho, the most prominent female character after the central figure of Eureka, and presents a new way in which the adult characters have superiority over Renton; sexual knowledge and maturity. Not only is he clearly not the intellectual equal of his superiors and seniors, he is not their physical equal either.
Respect and Peer Relationships in Episodes 3 and 4 of Eureka Seven
Note: This article is also available at Super Fanicom here.
What started out as a plan for a single article has turned by some process into an informal series blog; I won’t be religiously writing about each episode as I watch the series, but as and when sections of it stand out as interesting I will write about them, bringing in my views on the series as a whole.
The Difference Between Credibility and Realism in Episodes 1 and 2 of “Eureka Seven”
Note: This article is also available at Super Fanicom here.
In writing about science fiction previously, I have talked about how setting in genre fiction should not overshadow plot, and exposition should be limited to the minimum necessary for the story. The 2005-06 series Eureka Seven, in its opening two episodes, effectively creates a sci-fi universe that is entirely believable, populated with characters who are similarly credible. While the setting is fantastical in nature, it is nevertheless convincingly portrayed and the viewer is able to easily accept it because those parts of it which are instantly relatable are realistic.
Imagine a Young Man Taking Off His Contact Lenses… Forever (Or a Detailed Look at Code Geass: Lelouch of the Revolution)
The subject of this article is the 2006-08 animated series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Revolution, aired in two seasons (season one, referred to as Code Geass, 2006-07, season two, referred to as R2, 2008). The series attracted significant debate among fans as to whether the radical shift in tone brought about by the sudden decision to feature a second season, first shown in the delay between episodes 23 and 24 of the first season, and the rolling together of episodes 24 and 25 into a single double-length episode with its own title sequence, was a good thing.
