Gen X Otaku 1971: the OG blog

The saddest Side Story of Outlaw Star

I recently finished the series Outlaw Star on Blu-Ray, and while I'm undecided if I will do a full series review, I did want to zero in on Episode 20 of Outlaw Star for starters.

As my Bloghandle indicates, I am a Generation X aged Otaku;  Cowboy Bebop was a foundational anime for me, especially when it aired on cable television for the first time.  My Millennial co-workers on the other hand were very drawn to Outlaw Star, which is a product of the same era.  But while Bebop is arguably aimed at adult audiences, with more mature storytelling and plots, Outlaw Star is clearly aimed at adolescent boys.  I tried to start Outlaw Star over a year and change ago but just couldn't get into it and bailed around episode 5 or so.  I returned to it after finishing live action Cowboy Bebop on Netflix.  I did ultimately enjoy the series the deeper I got into it, but it remained top of mind for me that this is a show for teenagers and not adults....best not to think to hard about it!

However, I do want to single out Episode 20 for excellent storytelling and for reaching Cowboy Bebop levels of sadness, despair & regret.

This is the saddest shit in the whole damn show....

Jim is sad because he thinks Hanmyo stood him up.  He doesn't even realize he killed her.  At least mercifully Hanmyo never knew Jim was a part of Gene Starwind's crew.  Gaah....this episode broke me.  It was so sweet and so fucking sad at the same time.  Cowboy Bebop delivers this kind of sad irony and despair in spades.  Outlaw Star manages this at least.

Finished my re-watch of Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent

WARNING:  This ESSAY is a Spoiler for Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent  -- please stop reading here if you wish to avoid spoilers.

So I just finished rewatching Satoshi Kon's one and only television series Paranoia Agent on Blu-Ray.  And wow was it so much darker than I ever remembered it.  In fact, I think it plumbs depths of human depravity deeper even than Perfect Blue or Paprika.  

Analyzing the series as a whole would take an entire book, so I want to zero in on what to me stand out as a few key themes, and also, I want to Zoom in and Enhance on a few Key scenes.

Specifically, this scene:

I don't think I picked up the first time through that Tsukiko had really bad, sudden menstrual cramps that made her let go of Maromi's leash. Maromi was right--it wasn't her fault. But she couldn't possibly tell her Dad the whole truth.  Way too personal, and her father, being very strict, was not emotionally available to his vulnerable daughter going through this significant change in her life.  The mother seems to be absent, the figure a young girl experiencing the ups and downs puberty would naturally turn to.  The blood splatter of the dog-car accident serving a dual symbolic role...also menstrual blood. God, Satoshi Kon was a mad genius.   The mere idea of telling her strict father it was because she had sudden painful menstrual cramping that she dropped the leash was so mortifying she made up the whole Lil’ Slugger story to explain it away...

That adds a whole fucked up psycho-sexual layer I completely missed the first time through...and the whole cognitive dissonance between levels of culpability...yes, it was a hot day and she was a distracted tween-to-teen girl already and letting go of the leash lead to the dog’s death...but letting go of the leash wasn’t a conscious act but an involuntary reflex in response to pain stimuli...and because of her strained relationship with her father she couldn’t tell him the truth of it...a painful delusion she buried deep in her psyche.  And the cartoon version of Maromi was right---it WASN'T Tsukiko's fault...not really....but damn that return of the repressed is a BITCH....

And like I don’t think her producer was “actually” a victim of Lil’ Slugger, he literally commits vehicular suicide right in front of her....after physically assaulting her then pretending like nothing happened...because he realizes he just destroyed his work relationship with his best artist by roughing her up physically & terrifying her and there's no fixing it or pretending everything's still fine now.

And for Tsukiko personally, cartoon Maromi’s ongoing commercial success was a double edge sword....yes, it’s a cute mascot which she can be legitimately proud of, but it’s also a painful reminder of the violent death of a beloved pet that she loved and whose demise she felt partly responsible for.  Not exactly the healthiest creative muse, and hence her creative mental "block" as an artist that she struggles to overcome....This final scene where adult Tsukiko enters the memory of young Tsukiko and embraces real Maromi's lifeless body and apologies from her heart represents real closure for Tsukiko...a final admission of the stark truth of what happened, without reference to fault or blame as such.  It's a shame she couldn't have worked her way to this truth on the couch of a therapist, in a safe & supportive environment.

The ending is open enough that maybe Tsukiko produced the adorable cat mascot at the end but the more likely reading is she quit the profession entirely and is in a happier place now...and look, there’s always another artist who will step up to produce the next big thing...and struggle like Tsukiko did to come up with a new thing that’s even better.....For that’s the artist’s eternal struggle, to surpass even oneself...success and achievement being forever fleeting and transitory...forever chasing the next big high....something Satoshi Kon knew as well as anyone.

Also, Ep.10 is so darkly funny....Kon's own j'accuse at his audience and bosses....."we're literally killing ourselves to make this entertainment for you, you ungrateful shits!"

And the ending is so defiantly BRECHTIAN in tone...like Kon is screaming at his audience: "Get out there and experience real life, you fucking gross Otaku!"; escapist fantasy is a fine diversion but it's no replacement for actual life!

The ending is pretty stark...the lead detective is now a widower and still an underemployed security guard.  His former police partner has gone insane and is now himself a white-haired mental patient at the very same hospital as the crazy old man who passed away.  Tsukiko has cut her hair and seems happier now, while the sleazy reporter is still scraping by, and the crooked, creepy pedo cop still looks after his amnesiac daughter who is spared the memory & knowledge of her father's creepy voyeurism towards her.

I really enjoyed this re-watch and it very much deepened my appreciate of Satoshi Kon's work.  I could say so much more about Paranoia Agent but this will suffice for now.  Back to sleep everyone....

Finished Moribito on the new Neon Alley

The cover of the first DVD compilation released by Geneon Entertainment. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So I finally finished Moribito on the “new” web-only Neon Alley, powered by Hulu, having started the series on the “old” Neon Alley which I subscribed to via my PS3. I lamentably did not finish the series while Neon Alley was on PS3, though
I did get pretty far in. I eventually failed to keep up because I got interested in other shows, and the pacing of Moribito is just so intolerably slow, and the addition of unskippable Hulu advertising only drags it out further. Luckily I used the advertising
time to go take a urination break, or take to Twitter via my iPad, or play Words With Friends or Bookworm. Sometimes I actually paid attention to the ads, as they were sometimes moderately entertaining.
 
Set in a fantasy version of an Asian landscape resembling both feudal Japan and ancient China, Moribito is the tale of a spear-wielding mercenary woman named Balsa who is hired by the wife of the Mikado to protect her youngest son Chagum,
who is second in line for succession to the throne. Unfortunately for Chagum, he has been possessed by a water spirit “egg” and is saddled with a terrible destiny and may very well have to die so the water spirit can be born. The Mikado blames Chagum for
the ill fortune besetting the kingdom and secretly orders the young prince to be killed. His mother cannot bear this and thus orders Balsa to take the young prince and flee the palace. Chagum may have to live like a commoner for the rest of his days, but
at least he will live.
 
Balsa proves to be a highly competent body guard but also slowly develops maternal instincts for the boy. Chagum learns what real life is like outside the palace walls and learns to mix and mingle with the common people, to understand
their daily suffering and challenges, and applies his education and learning to their problems, developing his own wisdom. Meanwhile, the spirit egg inside the boy grows ever more restless, and he is propelled along the path of destiny, waving between the
human and spirit realms.
 
Balsa has many friends among the common people and they come to her aid time and again. We do not learn fully her back story until near the final arc of the series, where we see that her own early life story bears uncanny resemblance to
the life on the run that Chagum has endured, only now the roles are reversed.
 
I found myself uneasy right down to the last episode. There is a pleasing payoff, but one has to earn it. This is a good, solid series but it is also what I call a “one and done” series. I do not forsee a need to revisit or rewatch this
show ever again.
 

Finished Hero Tales on Netflix streaming.

Hero Tales (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I finally finished the epic anime Hero Tales via Netflix streaming.  Set in a fictional ancient China, the story follows the fate of a pair of adopted orphans who are raised as brother and sister, Taito and Laila.  Taito is marked by fate and the stars of Heaven to be the human avatar of the ancient God known as Alkaid, the eternal opponent of the Dark God Dubhe, embodied by ambitious General Keiro, who seeks to usurp the Imperial Throne and crown himself Emperor, then ascend to Godhood and purify the world of the scourge of the human race.  Only Alkaid, a.k.a. Taito, has the inner strength to stand against Dubhe and protect humanity from this dark monstrosity.  He is aided in this mission not only by his sister Laila but also his best friend, and a whole host of companions whom Taito meets and befriends on his way to the Capital to meet personally with the Emperor for an audience seeking a redress of grievances of the common people and their daily suffering and struggles for a better life within the Empire, and to seek justice against the rapacious General Keiro, a.k.a. Dubhe.  The anime is 26 episodes long and steeped in Chinese mythology and concepts, such as The Mandate of Heaven, the role of astrology & fate, etc.  The series itself is a bit of a slow burn and takes awhile to get interesting and exciting.  Taito is a bit insufferable and bratty in the beginning, and as with any shonen fighting series, he must learn to not only grow physically stronger but to mature mentally as a fuller person as well.  These tasks go hand in hand, and Taito does make progress, little by little, as the story moves from one adventure to the next.

The anime examines what, if anything to we as people owe to tradition, our roots, our prescribed roles in life.  Are we the masters of our own fate or is this merely an illusion?  Are we mere chesspieces moved at the whim of the gods, or fickle fate?  Is it our duty to accept our fate and play that role convicingly, or tear up the script and improvise from the heart?  Are we all just sinners in the hands of an angry god, or free human beings in charge of our own destiny?  These are the competing ideas that drive the onscreen clashes and drama of this anime.

The characters are likeable and seem to have good chemistry.  I watched this show only sporadically at first, taking in only a couple of episodes at a time, usually in the evening hours.  I wasn't really "sold" on the show until around Episode 15 or so.  Thereafter the action really picks up and the drama is racheted up to a tense level, and it's quite a thrill ride to the final episode of the series.  Until this apex is reached, the show would be difficult to marathon, but once it crests that tipping point, it would be hard NOT to marathon it.

The dub performances were all good, in my estimation.  Taito and Laila are both sometimes the most annoying characters, but they grow on the viewer with time.  I especially enjoyed the voice performances of the supporting cast, particularly J. Michael Tatum, Colleen Clinkenbeard, and Joel MacDonald as the Emperor and Taito's long lost twin brother, and Josh Grelle as Hosei (pronounced like Spanish "Jose" in the dub), one of Taito's first traveling companions and constant horn dog groveling for Laila's attention.  Monica Rial portrays the second in command of a ship of river pirates, a character who projects great confidence and courage, motivated by the death of her brother.  Stephanie Young voices a very sexy, sexy villianess in that special way only Stephanie Young can.

I also really liked the opening music theme, "Winterlong".  The lyrics are in English, and the song is catchy despite the sometimes clumsy wording put together by a non-native speaker.  It's a worthwhile series to watch, despite the slow burn it takes to get going.  Currently available streaming via Netflix, though this won't be available forever, so I'd watch this sooner rather than later.  It's definitely a title I'd rather rent than own.  It's pretty niche, being a Chinese historical fantasy drama.  It's a nice change of pace, different from more typical anime fare.