Category: Editorials

After War Gundam X: A World Without Char

4 Comments

Warning! I pretty much spoil the biggest twist you can in Gundam X. You have been warned.

hisuiconAll the way back in my 2009 review of Gundam X I promised to explain my theories on the show with spoilers and then promptly forgot to ever do such a thing.  In the article I theorized that Gundam X was partially a critique of the certain aspects of the Universal Century of Gundam but then stated that any detailed analysis would actually be a biggest spoiler for the series possible. Since the whole purpose of the Ballads of the Earth and the Moon articles was to look at the two somewhat unappreciated Gundam series I felt like spoilers would have gone against the spirit of getting people to check out the series with an unprejudiced attitude. But I am finally going to unleash my little theory for everyone who has seen the show.

Continue reading →

The Secret Nanami Diary

Leave a comment

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a show that plays with gender, sexuality, taboos, power, and the nature of stories and fairly tales in a surreal, sinister, and subversive manner. As the series goes on the tone can get pitch black in approach as it vivisects the shojo genre. But it is not all doom and gloom despite having a song named Absolute Destiny Apocalypse. There is a good deal of humor in series from Chu-chu’s antics to Saionji’s obsession with his exchange diary to break up what would otherwise be a relentless down note. There are even a few episodes that are purely comedic such as Take Care, Miss Nanami and Curried High Trip. And the one character who is at the center of all the purely comedic episodes is Nanami Kiryuu. She can be a dangerous character but most of the time she is used as comedic relief.

Nanami is a source of endless entertainment in the first season of Revolutionary Girl Utena and truly this is not celebrated enough. She fits in with the eccentricity of the show for sure and certainly exudes more sinister and creepy qualities, but you have to love her antics which usually blow up in her face.

Continue reading →

Togusa: A Regular Guy in A Cyber World

5 Comments

Having just finished the second season of Stand Alone Complex as well as the Solid State Society movie, I’ve been thinking about and discussing the dynamics of the Section 9 team at length. When you start considering it, Togusa comes off as quite an anomaly as he actively resists the over-cyberization of the current world of Ghost in the Shell. A series that looks at the relationship between technology and humanity and how close those lines have blurred has Togusa to lead us back.

In the modern age anyone who does not regularly carry around at least one piece of electronics on their person at all times  is quite the oddity. In the Ghost in the Shell universe this has been taken one step beyond with cybernetic technology making it so the average citizen has electronics integrated into their body. In this world it is not uncommon for people to replace parts of their bodies with cybernetics not only for medical necessity but also for augmenting their natural ability. The members of the secret counter terrorism group Section 9 are some of the most heavily modified people around with even the hacker Ishikawa having replaced pieces of himself with machinery. This makes Togusa so unusual as he is the one member of the organization that is considered a “natural” with only the minor about of cyberization you would see of a normal person off the street. So why is this completely mundane police officer part of an elite cyborg unit? What does he bring to the story of Ghost in the Shell?  I can’t see Section 9 having to be an equal opportunity employer.

Continue reading →