Splode posted:

I'm sorry for nuking the thread!!

Ok first, single point Godzilla fans please remind us about it at the end of the month, when it's out of Netflix gaol so I remember to watch it. I wanted to but it's too difficult at the moment.

Ok so now for my offhand comment about MHA being fascist. It posits that all societies problems can and should be solved through force, and that this is good.

Weirdly, it's actually has the villains point out that this is hosed up, and that's a big part of why I haven't dropped it.

Honestly though it's biggest crime is just wasting time with "previously" and "next time" crap eating actual new episode content.

Ibram Gaunt posted:

I think people get a bit too hung up about the morality and messaging of a show meant for Japanese tweens...I'm not saying turn your brain off or anything but viewing it through an adult western perspective isn't very productive.

ninjewtsu posted:

who was surprised by the existence of cops?


sure but being critically cognizant of the media you consume and its inherent messaging is still useful, and like sometimes interesting to talk about?

posting on an internet forum isn't productive either

Bakeneko posted:

The most questionable thing about MHA’s world is the way the government limits people’s quirk usage. If you aren’t a licensed hero you aren’t allowed to use your quirk in public ever (I guess there are exceptions for people like Hagakure who can’t turn theirs off), but in order to get licensed you have to have gone to one of a few elite high schools. So if you couldn’t get into one of those schools, or you only decide you want to become a hero later in life, too bad; you’re screwed. You can’t even use your quirk for normal things as part of a different job. I gather that this is something else that’s talked about in the spinoff but I’ve only seen the anime so I don’t know it’s presented there.

As for them being cops, well, obviously in a world with superpowers there would be some sort of government-run task force for dealing with superhuman threats, so I’m not sure why people are surprised by this. It’s probably the most realistic aspect of the show if you don’t count the fact that they all wear silly costumes. If the show made it clear that you could become a hero without having gone to a specific school there wouldn't be an issue.

Hunt11 posted:

From what I remember the only thing the government is very firm about is using your quirk to hurt others. Everything else becomes a mixture of exceptions and depending on the scenario. For super hero licensing it is clear that there are countless schools doing it, it is just that most intention from the setting is given to one of the elite institutions.

Waffleman_ posted:

Currently in the manga, the main character is trying his hardest to save the main villain without having to just blindly punch.

ninjewtsu posted:

who was surprised by the existence of cops?


sure but being critically cognizant of the media you consume and its inherent messaging is still useful, and like sometimes interesting to talk about?

posting on an internet forum isn't productive either

Splode posted:

In case it's not clear, I don't think anyone is a fascist for liking MHA or anything crazy like that. I just think elements of it's messaging are similar to the kinds of messaging fascist movements have used.

Bakeneko posted:

I see. It's still not ideal (like there should be a kind of hero GED for people past high school) but the focus on UA makes it seem like a rare thing for people to be able to achieve. I guess this is another thing the manga/spinoff must go into in more detail.

ninjewtsu posted:

people can use their quirks in their jobs, i think uraraka is specified as coming from a family that owns a construction business where her quirk would be super duper useful, but she wants to be a hero instead and her parents support her in that. seems like there's licenses to use your quirk in public outside of the hero licenses, i'm pretty sure we're explicitly told at some point about job-related licenses being a thing.

i also suspect that whatever law is in place has language that's more centered around "if your quirk enables flight, don't go flying to commute to work because 15% of everyone has some means of flight but not everyone can go at the same speeds nor have the same level of control so we don't have good safety precautions for that many people up in the air" and less "if you have a fire quirk then using that to light your cigarette is illegal." but the show doesn't explore that angle uh, at all so no way to know unless a manga written by a different author has all the answers

Srice posted:

Much like many of the american superhero comics it's inspired by, the biggest concern of the good guys in MHA is keeping the status quo intact.

Caphi posted:

I don't know if this has been explored (or closed off) later in the manga but there's a lot of text about how the status quo is both unstable and not working, and not just because they no longer have King Cop. If it never pays that off then yeah it's ~problematic~ but as far as I know, the question of "are villains a structural problem and not just a bunch of fuckers" is still open.

Splode posted:

Yeah, exactly. I am not getting super serious about the dumb super hero show, but I think the themes and messages it sends are worth exploring.
Also, "it's made for children/teenagers" just means the messaging should be examined even more closely rather than ignored or dismissed, as that's a demographic who are considerably less critical.

In case it's not clear, I don't think anyone is a fascist for liking MHA or anything crazy like that. I just think elements of it's messaging are similar to the kinds of messaging fascist movements have used.

ninjewtsu posted:

well, they weren't really viewed negatively here until pretty recently i don't think! honestly if we're talking about american media i'm not even sure they're typically depicted negatively, so much as the recent political climate has shown a light on the difference between how cops are depicted in media vs how they actually behave

Raenir Salazar posted:

I wanna make it clear for the record that I'm completely on board for deeply analyzing the themes of anime and manga using philosophy and all the tools of media analysis, but, there's some serious shortcomings in analyzing a work that's a product of a completely different culture and it's own pre-existing cultural context with a different pre-existing cultural context and so far in this talk about these elements of MHA there isn't I think enough of a recognition that I'm not sure if any of us knows what its like to have interactions with Japanese police and how Japan's relationship with its law enforcement and criminal justice system compares with North America (and if anyone does live in Japan and has intimate first hand experiences with Japanese police I'd love to hear them!).

Not to say that you can't, someone can probably make a square peg fit into a round hole if they try hard enough, but it isn't going to be easy.

I think as an example, on Trash Taste Gigguk and Connor were recounting a story where Japanese police once asked them the nationalities of who were living in their flat, and on hearing that Gigguk was Thai demanded to see his passport and as soon as he brought out his British passport they skedadled out of there. The impression I got from podcasts like that, and following twitter accounts of English speaking bloggers living in Japan, and reading blogs is the relationship between the Japanese public with the reality of policing is different from the American publics relation with policing and the dissonance between that relationship and media depictions are very different.

ninjewtsu posted:

ok but even though i'm an american viewing a japanese cultural product i can still note my personal interaction with the themes of the work on this western-leaning message board. rather importantly, i think everyone involved in this conversation watches the show and enjoys it, so if there is a cultural difference and the show serves as an accurate depiction of police in japan it's not like anyone here is going to japanese people and making claims about the quality of their cartoons on this basis. if anyone does have knowledge (as endorph has helpfully provided) that can certainly enhance the discussion but lack of that context doesn't exactly disqualify such discussion from happening in the first place.

i never really like throwing out death of the author but it's a relevant idea here: the meaning is in what the viewer gets out of art, not what the author ascribed to it. as an american viewer my experience with it is as """valid""" as direct evidence from the work allows it to be.

ninjewtsu posted:

it's not like anyone here is going to japanese people and making claims about the quality of their cartoons on this basis.

Raenir Salazar posted:

I am not saying it is disqualifying; only that the lack of qualifiers or disclaimer can be a somewhat disingenuous or unfair reading of the work when you divorce it from context to whatever degree you may know better.

It is a valid counterpoint to the discussion, your reading and interaction then by definition isn't the sole possible reading and interaction and people are allowed to point out the shortcomings and context you may be missing that leads to what to someone else, is an incomplete reading of the work.

Raenir Salazar posted:

I feel like there's a contradiction here, because you are saying it is making claims of American policing, or it is normalizing copaganda. I think the idea that you aren't making claims of Japan so its fine to say the work is making claims of America doesn't follow.

ninjewtsu posted:

i also suspect that whatever law is in place has language that's more centered around "if your quirk enables flight, don't go flying to commute to work because 15% of everyone has some means of flight but not everyone can go at the same speeds nor have the same level of control so we don't have good safety precautions for that many people up in the air" and less "if you have a fire quirk then using that to light your cigarette is illegal." but the show doesn't explore that angle uh, at all so no way to know unless a manga written by a different author has all the answers

Endorph posted:

blue reflection ray is the second best show airing this season and im not kidding.

Saigyouji posted:

It's really been coming into its own over the past few of episodes after the shaky start, and I'm really interested to see just where it's going. Shame that pretty much everyone everywhere is kind of sleeping on it.

dogsicle posted:

marumaru posted:

is higewosoru worth watching?

KariOhki posted:

The two shows I'm watching this season fall exactly into the same spots you have them, ha.

Joran is solidly a good show that might end up as very good if it sticks the landing at the end. The art style is beautiful and consistent, and there's a lot of wonderful framing and composition in shots. Plot-wise, it's always got me nervous and on the edge of my seat and I like when a show makes me feel that way since watching weekly means it needs to keep my interest.

Battle Athletes Victory ReSTART is solidly a bad show because it is boring but also trying to do too much at the same time. Because it's also a sequel(?) series, I can't help but compare it to the original series every time something happens. It's so solidly boring/bad/misfiring on all plot points that I'm tempted to do a complainypants writeup after I struggle through to the end.

dogsicle posted:

it's all very of its time but the OVA's take feels less offputting through some combination of its brevity and slightly restrained comedy, and the sweet ending you do get with Kris and Akari.

dogsicle posted:

a lot of the other stuff can chalk up to just fanservice where the names are used with no strong connection to prior characters (Shelley, Jefferson, Paglia, Ms. Cookie being a Rosnovsky), and i could reasonably expect dudes like the Shadow Triad to get a hold over an annual competition like Cosmo Beauty at some point.