Veith Ah! My Goddess

Alright, I must say I am getting sick of all the super-technology mecha ridiculousness. That's not to say I didn't enjoy Ah! My Goddess. I really liked it! Woohoo for the power of love! And I loved to see the Japanese spin on Norse deities' costume. I'm just tired of getting overly confused by the outrageous complications that dominate anime movies.

Okay, let me try to remember some of the things I read from the chapter about outrageous women. I must admit I can't currently find my copy of Samurai from Outer Space, but I did read the chapter a while ago. I do say that it helped me better understand the role of women in Japanese culture, and in anime. Firstly: the equality of men to women. In Japan, there has never been anything similar to women suffrage in America. In fact, I recall reading something about famous empresses, and tendency for Japanese people to believe that women of power held some sort of mysticism. So there, that explains the reason the makers behind Ah! My Goddess made the decision for women/ goddesses of mystical power (Urd Skuld and Belldandy) to roam the earth.

And i remember reading something about mother figures, and how they are not often present in anime movies. They tend to hamper the spirit of young, beautiful, imtelligent, powerful young girls like Belldandy. In American cinema, mother figures are predominantly nurturing and sweet. But Japanese mothers have the connotation of being the ultimate controllers of family matters, always making sure their children adhere to rigid education systems and helping out the family, etc. That is why there could not be a mother to Belledandy and Skuld; she would have overpowered their greatest qualities too much.

Back to the equality of Japanese men and women thing. In Japan, it is not as much of a problem if a couple are equal in strength. Though American women have certainly moved forward with their rights and dominance in the worl force, a typical American couple still has the connotation of consisting of a cheerleader-type plus a football player-type. This isn't so in Japan, since males and females have shared a lot of equality in Japanese history. Samurai from Outer Space brings up Keichi and Belldandy's relationship. The beauty of it is their mutual respect for each other, and Keichi does not care that Belldandy is so powerful and taller than him and yadda yadda. They are simply perfect for each other! :)

Keiichi and Belldandy <3

Veith Princess Mononoke

PRINCESS MONONOKE IS AN AWESOME MOVIE! It is visually stunning, and I especially liked the adorable nature of Ashitaka's pet Yakul, as well as those little kodama tree spirits. 

Since it is a movie having to do very much with humans and their interactions with nature, I was reminded of my high school Environmental Science class. In that class we had a discussion on two essays written by environmental experts, one which states that, no matter what, no matter how serious global warming gets, or how may natural and human-induced disasters occur in hte world, the world always adapts. No disasters ruin the world, and we are eternally in a cycle of destructing, fixing, and improving the world. The other essay very much attacked humans for ignorance of how to treatt he world, and the world will be destructed sooner than it should because of our mistreatment.

We were told to choose a side, and I really had trouble deciding then, but now I think I agree with the guy who says we’re destructing the world too fast. We humans forget that we are too a part of nature. The importance of nature is shown in Princess Mononoke by the fact that animals are beautiful, mystical, humongous, godly creatures that run a lush forest.

But then again, Iron Town’s conflict with nature makes the point that perhaps humans cannot live in a world without destructing nature a little, and treating animals poorly. Conflict between man and nature has gone on since the dawn of time, and no one seems to be backing down, even though America has “gone green” or whatever. Each year we knock out a huge number of trees.

Princess Mononoke is symbolic of human conflict with the natural world, especially in the sense that it won’t ever stop. In the battle between the humans and the forest, no one really wins. Here I am going to quote Wikipedia, because I like the way they put it: “There can be no clear victory, and the hope is that the relationship between humans and nature can be cyclical.” I guess we won’t know if this relationship is cyclical, or if humans are destroying the world too quickly, until the world ends.

Veith Grave of the Fireflies

I like to use the term depressingly uplifting to describe a lot of things, for example, Arcade Fire's music. As artsy and lame as it is, the term suits Grave of the Fireflies well. The horrors of war, specifically the undeserved death of a small child, are what this movie (film/ movie? I'm still unsure of the difference.) is all about. Which is depressing. But, the compassion between child siblings for each other during such harsh times is what makes Grave of the Fireflies so special. Setsuko and Saita are just too damn cute.

The extremity of child starvation and survival in such a brutal situation as the aftermath of a bombing shows Japan’s grievance over World War II. In fact, there is a term for this. I can’t remember what exactly it is called and the article in which I read about it is now missing from Blackboard, but it’s something like this: Japan feels so victimized and misunderstood, especially in terms of warfare. Its islands being isolated and ridden with monsoons and tsunamis, it is completely different from anywhere else. Through films like Grave of the Fireflies and The Harp of Burma, profound and beautiful times of terror, like young sibling survival and grave-making for a innumerable Japanese war casualties, this feeling of victimization and misunderstanding is depicted.

This type of spirituality, this beautiful sorrowful feeling that Japan has, is so irrelevant to everyone else. It should not be ignored. From what I gather, Japanese people are polite. They work hard and seem to live by a code of ethics completely absent from America. As a country, they certainly are misunderstood, (and definitely weird) but Japan seems so exquisite to me! Just look at the beauty of Setsuko and Seita’s care for each other. They are perfect children. And just consider how lovely it is that one single man committed his life to rightfully bury Japanese soldiers in Burma. It sucks that we had to have conflict with Japan in World War II. Now, I think it’s important to recognize the elegance in Japanese culture, which can be better understood through their wartime films.