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Supersonic Shine posted:I think the most fascinating part of the finale was the way the ending and the message changed in the process of hastily producing the final product. It went from optimistic hope that we'll someday be able to see the humanity inherent in our most dire of enemies to a more somber examination of how your best-laid plans won't turn out the way you wanted, and that a momentous undertaking will cost more than you're initially prepared to pay. Definitely feels like the tumultuous creative process bled a little into that ending. i took the whole series as allegory and interpreted the last minute musical limitation to represent reality’s audible doomsday clock, and the change it forces in their anime is from a message of long-term hope to a message of short-term absolution so far of all the anime ive seen only this and space dandy manage to completely nail social commentary without sacrificing verisimilitude. in space dandy its because the setting is so precisely suited to its narrative, and in eizoken its because every frame of animation is inherently commentary on itself. i also just watched carole and tuesday, which feels like a massive failure in retrospect because it has largely the same narrative beats as eizoken but every one of them lands with a thud because the idea of a band that makes music to change the world is a rotted cliche and the animation does nothing to improve this impression. the music is fine but it forces the animation to take a backseat and the show suffers hugely for it. both eizoken and c&t can be summarized as, “artistic team in vaguely fictionalized version of reality sets out to fulfill their passion, and fights a society that stifles expression.” but in carole and tuesday this ends up being a bunch of rotoscoped vocoder performances of mediocre electronica and some pretty decent folk songs broken up by tired scenes of characters saying music isnt what it used to be, but it can be again, and we as people can be good again too. in eizoken the team is of animators, and the fruit of their labor is beautiful and compelling animation, and the thesis of the show is that animation justifies itself. and because the show has this premise, every single thing that happens is both a showcase of talent, skill and dedication to craft, and a perfect deconstruction of the society that discourages those very things. ultimately, the best moment of this anime, and my personal best moment of television ever, is when asakusa says that kanamori isnt her friend, shes her comrade. the eizoken as a trio are a perfect little metaphor for the state of humanity’s creatives: asakusa is an insular architect of worlds, an imaginative genius that has zero outlet for their work because it isnt a commodity. she might have already produced a great variety of beautiful and compelling animation if there wasnt constant pressure from society not to waste time on art without a compelling economic motivator. tsubame is a sheltered upper-class kid that has gained a unique and beautiful outlook that doesnt just inform her art, but defines it; however, anything she makes becomes a commodity due to her fame and status, and she fears that her art wont be judged on its own merits for this reason. despite this she recognizes that the art is all that really matters and gladly debases herself in order to advertise it. and kanamori.... kanamori is the strongest heart of the show. shes the worker raised in a global economy to understand that even the intrinsic value of labor is up for debate, and that only by understanding the ways this value can be stripped from you can you prevent that very loss. and thats what she does throughout the show: at every turn, society tries to stifle and staunch the eizoken, and kanamori is always there to protect their labor and its value. and it isnt monetary value shes protecting: its the cumulative emotion and love that artists put into their work, that corporate and monied interests always seek to commodify. kanamori represents the ideal ally to art in the 21st century: seasoned, tired workers who have maybe finally found something more worthy of their efforts than lining the pockets of their boss. so, to me, an unskilled laborer who doesnt know numbers, forever resigned to shoveling the snow in front of a store that actively resents attempts to improve the value of its services, the concept that i can put my experience to use protecting creatives and artists instead of watching as their talent is wrung from them to nobodys gain is perhaps the most optimistic and inspiring story ive seen on television, ever.
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Apr 16, 2020 13:06
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 11:49 |
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the three-fold allegory of the lower-class artist taking inspiration from the worn-out gutterworld that surrounds her, the upper-class model that is compelled by her unique upbringing to isolate and highlight the most meaningful gestures shes encountered, however minor, and the working-class warrior thats finally found a righteous cause for which to fight.....folks, this is god tier anime.
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Apr 16, 2020 13:39
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next level poo poo: this scene is about organized labor leveraging the depraved habits of global power brokers into better conditions for workers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3JmVhwX3Xc the numbers theyre negotiating at the start are an obvious double entendre for ages of victims scary ghost dog fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Apr 16, 2020 |
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Apr 16, 2020 18:16
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her obsession with money is shorthand for her knowledge of how to transform art and artistic labor into a format consumable by the world at large (she is the hammer that pounds animation into anime)
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Apr 16, 2020 19:21
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