Starbug wrote:
Even GATE, which is fast becoming one of my favourite animés (and something I'd consider asking Chuck if he'd tackle), has a victim of rape and violence starting to show...affection, for the perpetrator, who is quite possibly the most punchable antagonist I've ever seen.
If it's who I think it is you're referring to, then I'm not sure that counts as it is definitely depicted as more a case of Stockholm Syndrome than of Rape Equals Love trope.
As a side note, I like GATE as well... as long as it stays in the fantasy realm. When it goes back to Earth is where it really falls down for me. Other Earth-nations are depicted as such mustache-twirling villains that it feels like blind jingoistic propaganda. Even the evil fantasy empire isn't depicted as so horrifically corrupt and self-serving and they have an official foreign policy of sending vassal states' armies into meat-grinder fights in order to keep them from being able to challenge the Empire militarily.
When you get down to it Kannazuki No Miko is pretty much the Anti-Legend of Korra. Korra is a strong willed young woman who seeks to do the right thing and always put the good of others before herself. Himeko is a weak willed idiot who only ever thinks about Chikane and shows little to no concern for others and is completely incompetent and is useless in a fight.
Then we have the love interests. Asami is kind, caring and always looks to do what is right even when it hurts her the most. She is always, as Chuck said, the ultimate class act apologizing to Mako for kissing after she had lost everything, being there for Korra and Team Avatar even when Mako was making the moves on Korra after she had lost everything and is even willing to give people who have hurt her a second chance. Chikane is a self centered, rapist who will hurt anyone and everyone to get what she wants and has this bad habit of turning on everyone she works with.
The villains are also a lot weaker then the ones in TLOK, sure KNM's villains have interesting backstories that helps flesh them out but compared to the villains of Korra that's really more of a foot note as we really get to know the villains on Korra and can even sympathize and understand why they do it.
The supporting cast is also not as memorable as what we got in TLOK, while I do feel that TLOK had too many characters I will admit that they did leave a impact on me while I cannot remember anyone's name in KNM and more importantly I don't care enough to look them up.
And finally the relationship between Himiko and Chikane contrasts to Korra and Asami's relationship... Do I even need to point out why one is better then the other? Even if your not a fan of Korrasami it's still clearly a healthy relationship that is based on mutual trust and friendship. Himiko and Chikane's relationship on the other hand is so disgusting I'm not even going to try and go into the problems with it cause it does not deserve that sort of attention.
Last edited by Winter on Wed Jan 10, 2018 7:11 am, edited 3 times in total.
SuccubusYuri wrote: This was king of the hill for a long time by the simple fact it acknowledged female sexuality at all. "Good girls don't want sex. They don't kiss. THEY DON'T EVEN HOLD HANDS! IT'S THE PUREST FORM OF LOVE!"
I'm a heterosexual Asian male, part of a group whose capacity for sexuality has long been barely acknowledged in Western popular entertainment. If one of the few popular Western portrayals of an Asian man as a sexual being was as an emotionally abusive rapist (especially if such a character were conceived and created by a white person), I wouldn't be celebrating that solely because "it acknowledges Asian male sexuality at all". I'd want any man who liked it for that reason to have to register as a sex offender.
bronnt wrote:Question: Is "Cowboy Bebop" actually as awesome as I think it is, or is it just that it resonates exceptionally well with a Western audience because the creator drew a lot of inspiration from Western films?
I have to dissent a bit - it has a lot of good points (including a phenomenal soundtrack), but I didn't think the writing was all that sharp. The underlying story with Spike & Vicious just felt too thin, and Julia was never developed as a character except as an object of desire for Spike.
Don't get me wrong - I wept manly tears at the ending like everyone else, but in the end it felt a bit empty.
I'm not well versed in anime, though, so I'm not a good person to go to for recommendations. I liked Death Note and Fullmetal Alchemist quite a lot. And the Kyoto arc of Rurouni Kenshin, though that really doesn't fit into SF Debris, uh, idiom.
Oh, Fullmetal Alchemist is quite good, and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is great. I recommend both of them to anyone who's looking to find an anime, in order.
Hmm. Cowboy Bebop focuses quite a bit on vignettes with music/genre based themes, and I can see how the plot is a little thin for the "main villain"... but it's not really just about the main villain. It's about the crew, and the adventures/mishaps they're involved in, which only sometimes involve the main villains.
