Patreon + Twitch REACTION REQUESTS (Part 1)
Added 2023-12-05 21:58:22 +0000 UTCI reacted to many things including the Chainsaw Man intro, YU YU Hakusho Opening 1, Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Nier Automata Series and song, plus many other things!!
- Checkout Part 1 of this stream!
Comments
A very good example of how brilliant Fujimoto's writing is, is episode 7 (of CSM). In terms of writing, it's certainly one of the most excellent single anime episodes out there. It's disturbing, shocking, sad, dark and hilarious all at once while highlighting and encapsulating exactly what the story is about: how powerless, helpless, overwhelmed and out of control Denji is in regards to everything. His first kiss obviously meant a lot to Denji. We saw him crying because of humiliation on the toilet and then also the way he talked about his first kiss with Makima - it clearly meant a lot to him. Yet it meant nothing to Himeno. The only reason she offered a tongue kiss was bc in the spur of the moment she was annoyed that Denji would reject her kiss bc of Makima (who she was already upset/jealous with bc of Aki). So Denji's kiss comes around completely randomly with a girl who doesn't really care and then even gets puked on. Something even he finds gross and humiliating. And we're talking about a guy who grew up like a hobo, being used to a lot of things we would consider gross (like eating out of the trash). Denji was used to and comfortable with being at the lowest point most of us could ever imagine being and he still somehow managed to find himself being humiliated. That is....quite the accomplishment. And then he more or less gets "abducted" by Himeno without even any knowledge of it and then suddenly finds himself at someone else's place with a grown woman sitting on top of him, pouring alcohol in his mouth and as he's laying there dizzy - seemingly unable to properly move - he's more or less coerced into having sex with Himeno bc she is lonely, depressed and jealous. Denji isn't even a co-worker of these people. He's literally their slave. If he tries to run, he dies. He's a kid who was thrown into a harsh adult life full of adults that either have questionable morals or are troubled and is being pushed around by circumstances like some toy. Denji has no autonomy and no freedom while also lacking the necessary maturity, development, social skills and education to sufficiently deal with anything this life throws at him. I mean, the episode made it a point to show how Denji can't even read the menu! And there are of course a lot of subtle characterisations of how immature Denji is in the follow up scene in EP8. Like him not understanding how awkward the breakfast is and his complete lack of awareness of both the legal and ethical implications of what Himeno had tried to do or how easily he buys into the bullshit that Himeno likes Aki "because of his face". He's like a baby. He's never had parenting, school education, age-appropriate social interactions...nothing! And that's what the story is about: the impossibly hopeless position Denji is in and how much of an easy target he is for abuse and being taken advantage of. Psychology uses the term "risk factors". Denji is like a living and breathing fully stacked deck of risk factors. The story is almost like a fictional case study of how someone who's never had any options would deal with suddenly being presented with the illusion of having options, how they would try to claw themselves out of that deep hole they've always been in and poses the question if it's even truly possible, given their very limited outlook on life. That "almost sex scene" between Denji and Himeno is also incredible. It's so fucking uncomfortable (imo way more so than the kiss which was more "shocking"). Himeno is an incredibly well written character, holistically, and a fantastic realistic portrayal of depression. Even this scene, in context with her character, clearly shows that Himeno is not an awful person. Just a very lonely person who had a moment of weakness and it's in stark contrast to the scene between Denji and Makima (who was cold and calculating when she seduced him) These days people love to get outraged over everything and love to use excessive blind outrage for the sake of virtue signaling. Especially when it comes to anything that remotely involves sexual misconduct. We just shove those people into a little black box labelled "rapist" or "sex offender" and dehumanise them and call them monsters. But people aren't as simple as that. Some people are horrible, sure. But then there are also people who are just normal people who make a mistake by giving into a temptation that presents itself. Writing a scene where an adult almost rapes a minor while not dehumanising them is fantastic. And yes, it's rape. Let's not get that wrong. It doesn't matter if Denji would have consented or not. He's a minor with the emotional maturity of a 10 year old. It's not a matter of consent. He's being taken advantage of. We, the audience, are not supposed to condone it and the author doesn't do anything to suggest that we should (he even makes sure to call out Himeno's behaviour). Yet, the writer allows the audience to acknowledge that there are a lot of nuances to such situations. That is very difficult to accomplish without swinging too much one way or the other.
Dr. Foppo
2024-04-26 05:22:24 +0000 UTCHow can one unironically say that "Chainsaw Man isn't really about anything and it's just dumb and really bad" when it's a brilliantly written absurdist dystopia and parable about lack of prospects with great subtle characterisations and portrayal. There's a reason Fujimoto Tatsuki is one of the most (arguably the most) renowned modern Mangaka, lauded by plenty of great novelists/authors and screen writers for his brilliant writing and visual story telling - who has written three award winning Manga in a row. Out of all the manga that you have watched the anime adaptations of, CSM (literary speaking) has by far the highest level of sophistication. That obviously doesn't mean that people have to like it, but it's pretty impossible to argue that it isn't brilliant. Whether it's Chainsaw Man, Look Back, Goodbye Eri or Fire Punch - that man has an incredible gift to contextualise a combination of complex topics and constructs in uniquely creative ways similar to Gary Shteyngard or Mikhail Bulgakov (to name a couple of famous examples). Although the one thing he probably excels at the most is creating intrigue and mystery via dishonesty and provoking misunderstandings. He is a brilliant liar. And the only reason the CSM Anime wasn't particularly well received in Japan is bc it didn't live up to the Manga's quality - but it was never possible to translate his art style and pacing 1:1. I mean, the guy has possibly the greatest mastery of panelling ever - which also stems from the fact that he didn't learn from manga but from movies/movie shots. The creators of the show knew that they could never create a "perfect adaptation": the reason they made the show anyway is simply bc they love his works that much and it was purely a passion project (which is pretty easy to tell with how much effort they put in the production with all the unique outros etc).
Dr. Foppo
2024-04-26 05:22:13 +0000 UTCWhere can we make patreon requests? :D
gggoos
2023-12-06 11:04:04 +0000 UTC
