Well, we haVe reached the half point of our clAss. In celebration to fall break, the fact that I didn’t have to take a Midterm and the fact that were a quarter of the way done with our first college year…I’m going to ramble today about the three FILMS we have watched in anime class and how these FILMS, unlike movies, have a much deePer meaning than what we origInally think.
We have Tetsuo, Wanting to find his identity as a biker. He wAnts to be like his friends, Strong and agile and even mature. He wAnts the power that they have and wheN he gets power his identity goes from being the kid of the group to a demi-god. However, even with his powers, he suffers and At one point in the film We see Tetsuo sitting in a throne, unhappy. Then he turns into a giant baby, is absorbed by the entity of Akira and then says “I am…Tetsuo”.
Finally, there is Kusanagi, struggling with her identity as a cyborg or a person. Kasanagi breaks off to philosophical talks at randoM occasions of the movie; wondering abOut her life, her past self and her soul. Is she a complete cyborg? Who was she before haVing 98% of her body transferred to a robot? But then she merges with the puppet master, losIng herself and becoming a different persona…with thE body of a child… she then looks out and thinks: “and where does the newborn go from here? The net is vast and infinite”.
-Xavi
Now the FILMS we watched in class…AkiRa, Perfect BluE and Ghost in the Shell are all excellent FILMS. They all Have an intricate storyline; amazing character development and an overall feel that makes yoU feel completely immersed in the movie if Not mind-cluster-screwed. I love Tthese films to the extent that I want to go to amazon and order all three of them and watch thEm back at home with my family and take pictures of theiR baffled expressions as Tetsuo turns into a giant unborn baby, Rumi stabs a photographer with an ice pick and Kusanagi rambling on about her iDentity.
Ahh yes, identity was a common theme in all three FILMS.
We have Tetsuo, Wanting to find his identity as a biker. He wAnts to be like his friends, Strong and agile and even mature. He wAnts the power that they have and wheN he gets power his identity goes from being the kid of the group to a demi-god. However, even with his powers, he suffers and At one point in the film We see Tetsuo sitting in a throne, unhappy. Then he turns into a giant baby, is absorbed by the entity of Akira and then says “I am…Tetsuo”.Then we have Mima, trying to re-discover her identity as a star. Her identity is being stolen by a psychopath; she Falls into dementia and has to find herself once more. She loses herself to the point of believing that she was a mUrderer and she loses grasp of reality. It is until she regains her identity (by taking care of Rumi) that she is abLe to mature and be “the real thing”.
Finally, there is Kusanagi, struggling with her identity as a cyborg or a person. Kasanagi breaks off to philosophical talks at randoM occasions of the movie; wondering abOut her life, her past self and her soul. Is she a complete cyborg? Who was she before haVing 98% of her body transferred to a robot? But then she merges with the puppet master, losIng herself and becoming a different persona…with thE body of a child… she then looks out and thinks: “and where does the newborn go from here? The net is vast and infinite”.Fantastic characters, great storylines and plots that your mind is going to jump out of your head, slap you hard in the face and say: “WHY THE HECK ARE YOU MAKING ME THINK THIS HARD?!” are what sums up the first three FILMS we watched in class.
I have very much enjoyed this ;)
What I was listening to while writing ze blog.
Thank you K.Tong
Thank you K.Tong
“You wanna feel how it feels, you wanna know, know that it doesn’t hurt me, you want to hear about the deal I’m making.”- Placebo: Running Up That Hill
I love how you summed up all three films in concise paragraphs while also celebrating the “midterm” part of the semester. Aside from that tidbit, you basically hit everything on the nail and explain it in ways most people can understand. I absolutely LOVE how you mention the way these films can really screw with your head if you end up lost while watching them. Unfortunately I was a victim of that… and felt that way up until our film discussions in class. I also wonder, was there any particular reason why some letters where capitalized in your blog? It had me thinking you had some underlying code hidden in there. I mean aside from FILMS being capitalized because I know you’re emphasizing that these are films and not movie. Though I’m pretty sure people that do not think deeply about these films would consider them movies for entertainment. But alas, we are college students analyzing these films so it has deeper meaning to us. I never thought I would learn so much from anime before, lol.
ReplyDeleteHey Xavi! I'm happy that we've gotten through midterms too! I wouldn't have thought to mention it on my blog though, haha. The midterm thing is really interesting though because we finally know how the class works and we've actually learned a LOT about anime. Like I never would've thought that anime had such deeper themes like personal identity, adolescence, and even postmodernism. The three films you summarized (which I have to admit are the best ones we've watched) are all unique and interesting in their own way even though they have similar topics. I actually wouldn't mind buying them too if they're cheap enough! But like Britnee said, who would've thought that we could actually learn and study anime? :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments :)
ReplyDeleteplace close attention to the random capitalized letters. thats all im going to say haha.
I figure out what the letters meant :U!
ReplyDelete