im looking at anime

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:22 am

By which I mean to say it's good and I'd recommend it!

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Sun Feb 02, 2020 4:44 pm

Adiwan wrote: ↑
Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:13 am
There is some setup but for me it's not enough. Technology and "believing in yourself" is not at odds with each other. For how much a big deal is to have technology introduced to the school there is not much on display in the series in the school itself.
Especially the mob hate and the bad relations of the two countries (I hate it that they don't have a name and are vague as shit) are only mentioned in passing and I wished that the main plot were more integrated. Like it'd be not that hard to dedicate a few episodes on helping the local crowd in some inter-personal problems. There the main conflict and the mystery of its origin could be fleshed out in order to give higher stakes at the end of the series.
These kind of things makes me frustrated because of the missed opportunities and that it is not reaching its full potential.

oh man

like inkie already touched upon most of it, so this'll prolly mostly be reiterating but:

The whole show hinges on exploring that "spark" you get when experiencing something wonderful and powerful. So powerful that it leaves a profound impact and shapes your outlook, thinking and instills a need to pursue and emulate the same thing.

It's a kind of magic, a certain je-ne-sais-quoi. For Akko it's personified as Chariot's magic and her gorgeous show.

She's so driven that she ends up following in her idol's footsteps and attends the prestigious Luna Nova Academy.
A lesser show would've just gone through the usual and have Akko become the next Chariot by simply "believing in herself".

LWA does not do this, at all. Instead it interrogates Akko's psyche, her relentless pursuit and drive. She's an outsider, trying to 'make it big' like her idol, but Akko’s wide-eyed enthusiasm and love for magic is met with arrogance and derided.
Luna Nova Academy, the place she set her heart on, turns out to be an elitist institution that’s staunchly traditional and desperately trying to hold onto the olden days.
Where Chariot’s freewheeling and *inclusive* take on magic inspired her do great things, it’s thought of as crass by the other students and even teachers.

Chariot's spectacle doesn't serve any purpose, there's no profit, there's no material worth, no capital.
This is why the episode about worker's rights is in there

Same with the technology.

There is a problem that everyone, including the politicians, can recognize the contours of.
Croix's idea is to solve it with her dronetech, like some Silicon Valley technocrat with a "disruptive app".

This of course backfires completely, because Croix doesn't "get it". She has good intentions, but it comes from a place of ignorance.
This is why Constanze is an important part: she just loves inventing and creating things, not with some *purpose* but just because it's fun.

It's of course Akko who manages to break through all of it, but not before...

I already mentioned that the show explores her personality and that comes to a head with Chariot and "meeting your heroes" and the eventual twist.
Akko's drive is based on... a lie, a beautiful lie. It's her own imagination, her own creativity that has created this impossible image of her hero and when the story unravels and the truth comes out her entire world is shattered.

The thing that has been her driving force just crumbles. And how does she deal with that?

Not on her own. Not by believing in herself.

It's the connections she made along the way, the people she tried to help not with magic, but out of the kindness of her heart.
Because it was something that felt right. Her intuition was wrong a lot of times, and she got called out a ton.
She didn't quite fit in, anywhere, and she still doesn't at the end. But she has shown the people she's met that there's another way, she's inspired them, just like how she was inspired by Chariot.

Not at all like how her idol did who danced with poise and grace across the stage. No, she's found her own Akko way to shine.

With a big fucking smiley face.

On the surface that too might just be another reference to a thing. But this, and every single other nod to other anime, book series, films are much more than just that. They're love letters to the things that inspired STUDIO TRIGGER to do what they do and shows that they're fully aware of the power that art can have.

It's what inspired them to create the things they love. Just like how Akko was inspired.

And it doesn't stop there, almost every facet of LWA is there to interrogate that spark and how to keep it going.

Cherry on top: the whole project was conceptualized for Anime Mira: a government sponsored program to help train the next generation of witches animators.

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Sun Feb 02, 2020 4:45 pm

"Isaak are you writing an essay on LWA?"

Yes, yes I am

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Sun Feb 02, 2020 5:27 pm

i didn't know about anime mira, that's neat!

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Sun Feb 02, 2020 5:27 pm

good post

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:16 am

why is every anime a high school anime

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:28 am

i wonder the same

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:30 am

me and two friends finished the two anime we were following and decided to watch the first episodes of three seasonal anime to maybe see whether we liked them

we thought only one of them was situated in a high school but nope turns out all three of them were

Adiwan · Post by **Adiwan** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:30 am

Because the Japanese are/were struggling so much at work that they yearn the good days when they were suffering at school.

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:42 am

i yearn for anime about adults

a slice of life anime about adults, now that's the holy grail

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:45 am

this is not to say that there aren't good animes about high schoolers, just you know

a little variety is nice

Adiwan · Post by **Adiwan** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:49 am

Isn't it Aggretsuko? Adult people working at an adult office space, facing adult problems in adult life.

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:50 am

i have a whole list of recommendations, i added shirobako to it recently (folks working at a anime studio)

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:56 am

I thought aggretsuko was neat

Adiwan · Post by **Adiwan** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 10:00 am

BTW: Oni Press will release this week the first comic issue of Aggretsuko.

Octavia · Post by **Octavia** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 10:38 am

Aggretsuko is great.

Although whenever I hear Bernadetta speak in Fire Emblem 3 Houses, all I hear is Retsuko.

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:10 am

a toooon of anime nowadays are adaptations of popular manga, light novels, visual novels etc starring high schoolers/adolescents.
They're made as marketing vehicles to drive sales of the source material cuz you know, capitalism.

It's less noticeable when the setting is fantasy/historical/sci fi, but when going for something more grounded you naturally end up at high school because of how over represented it is in the pool of stuff that gets adapted.

Right now Light Novels are a big source--KyoAni even publishes their own LNs which they then adapt into anime--, as are Web Novels/online amateur fiction --a ton of isekai are based on Web Novels, like Slime, KonoSuba etc--.
A few years ago VNs were all the rage with adaptations of Fate, Clannad, Air etc.

In the late 90s you still had a big boom in original works and mecha shows like EVA, Bebop etc cuz there was a ton of money.

Now as to why the source material/cultural output seems to have shifted more towards high school settings over the last... decade/15 years or so, a bit of speculation:

1) a shitton more anime gets made nowadays so it's kind of natural to have high school settings be much more represented. And as mentioned before these are a lot more adaptations of LNs/Web novels

2) high school is an easy setting to base a story on for your LN or manga that's easily relatable to almost everyone.

2a) it's a setting you can hang anything on from mecha to magical girl, isekai, VR MMO etc etc.

2a) It's also cheap and fast to produce as you have to do v little visual development or complicated architecture/machines/costumes.

2b) it's easily marketable in both Japan and around the world, everyone can grasp it cuz everyone's been to high school

2c) It has become a cultural touchstone over the years, much like how high school and the surrounding romanticism is a touchstone in American media.

3) A large portion of viewers still are of high school age

interlude) Even in Japan anime is niche so basing your whole understanding of the culture on just one detail of one part of its entire cultural output is kinda eeeeeehhhhhhhhhh

interlude cntd) That's not to say that life sucks for a lot of people of working age in Japan because of stifling working conditions, overall decline of long-term job security, neoliberal policies of austerity and general late-stage capitalism... but that's kind of like a global thing that affects different countries in different ways

does that eventually lead to more high school settings, well:

4) iyashikei/SoL stories are looong running in the medium and high school as a setting represents a low stakes environment making for a great setting for that specific kind of escapism.

5) So does the increase of precarity in Japanese society lead to an increase in high school settings?

Maybe? Partially? It's complicated?

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:13 am

like there's also Japanese live-action television and film, music and literature, a lot of which doesn't deal with high school settings

anime is a niche medium even in Japan

so uh

yeah

The Ghost of Ember · Tue Sep 17, 2019 4:56 pm

i always heard it was for the same reason most american media is about folks in their early twenties/in college, high school in japan is the most 'free' time the average person there has in their lives for self-discovery.

thats pure hearsay tho

Fontra · Post by **Fontra** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:33 pm

I'm okay with high school animes, but they have to do something interesting or funny with it. Like Cromartie.

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:41 pm

i think i'm gonna name him freddie

Fontra · Post by **Fontra** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:42 pm

*riff from Procession plays*

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:43 pm

the thing that gets me about cromartie is how fast kamiyama adjusts to being one of cromarties dumbasses

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:08 pm

my new favourite anime of the year is bojack horseman

SlateSlabrock · Post by **SlateSlabrock** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:12 pm

Demeh wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:16 am
why is every anime a high school anime

In fairness, this is a complaint of mine about American cartoons also.

Even ponies, it turns out.

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:14 pm

SlateSlabrock wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:12 pm
In fairness, this is a complaint of mine about American cartoons also.

Even ponies, it turns out.

...yeah giving it a moment's thought you're right

RIP Syndrome · Post by **RIP Syndrome** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:15 pm

I want a university anime since it's easily the most free I've ever or indeed ever will be. literally just doing fuck all for days on end like a bum

it actually is kind of terrible, but that's another complaint.

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:33 pm

may i recommend tatami galaxy

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:16 pm

DaikatunaRevengeance wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:33 pm
may i recommend tatami galaxy

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:17 pm

oh if you're looking for an anime with an adult cast: https://anilist.co/search/anime?include ... ult%20Cast

Adiwan · Post by **Adiwan** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:19 pm

These are just highschoolers in disguise.

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:37 pm

Adiwan wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:19 pm
These are just highschoolers in disguise.

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:37 pm

you can never really tell

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:38 pm

jojo's bizarre adventure

DaikatunaRevengeance · Post by **DaikatunaRevengeance** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:43 pm

araki can draw two types of humans: child and adult

he can't draw anything between those two

Perpetual Motion · Post by **Perpetual Motion** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:55 pm

Araki’s art has drastically evolved to the point where he rarely draws musclemen anymore. Since Part 5 it’s been twinks as far as the eye can see.

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 5:17 pm

Perpetual Motion wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:55 pm
Araki’s art has drastically evolved to the point where he rarely draws musclemen anymore. Since Part 5 it’s been twinks as far as the eye can see.

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 5:17 pm

I should watch March Comes in Like a Lion cuz I've been seeing that around a bunch lately

Aria Genisi · Post by **Aria Genisi** (?) » Tue Feb 04, 2020 1:14 am

honestly right now i can't help but think of the old ass newgrounds flash anime about delinquent students and shit that had BONE SHREDDING in it

Demeh · Post by **Demeh** (?) » Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:51 am

!saak wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 03, 2020 5:17 pm
I should watch March Comes in Like a Lion cuz I've been seeing that around a bunch lately

only watch this when you're in a good place mentally cause damn

It's really good but it's one of those shows that can really drag you down with it during certain moments.