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EP. REVIEW: O Maidens in Your Savage Season


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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:49 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Hongo may be treading a very dangerous line with Milo-sensei (and he had better know better than to let this keep going, no matter how much she throws him off)


Honest question, what he should do? Isn't he being blackmailed?
He didn't expect that an underage girl would apear in that encounter, but this doesn't matter if anyone would discover. They'd only see the fact that he went there, she went there, and both could commit a crime.
Until he finds a way out it's better to "play safe".

(yes, I'm writing this knowing what happens next)

About Kazusa... she is so annoying and "forced".
I know that this is a story about how these girls handled their emotions, but omg Kazusa! Stop! Calm down!
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 4:08 pm Reply with quote
Oh good. You all are doing the "Rika's not pretty until she made herself pretty" thing. I'm with the guy, she was prettier when she started. You know, as herself.

And it's a good thing she'll become a friend with the shallow people? I don't see that as a good thing. "OMG, you're one of us!" No, she's not and her reaction just to the gal's smell should have been enough of a clue. Her ode to superficiality is only skin deep for now but I bet it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Quote:
..one person who saw value in her before her makeover speak to this.

This sentence made me throw up mentally, I just want you to know that. "Value"...

How would I do the "hot girl is hot only once she looks as what we agree with is hot, namely she fixes her hair and takes off her glasses" plot? Oh no, it's Not Another Teen Anime is it? Yeah, I wouldn't do stories like that, mostly because I like glasses. Also, they tend to end on "but there's the one guy who saw she was beautiful all along." Blah.

However! I love the idea the guy even attempted to do the fifty page report at all, that's a level of acceptance of the Literature Club girl beyond just liking her regardless or because of her looks. Oh yeah, saying "she's cute" covers more than looks, doesn't it?
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:56 pm Reply with quote
Well, this episode finally hit on something I could identify with, and that's The Haircut. There were two components to the trauma of changing a hairstyle for me. One was just dreading all the, "Oh, you got your hair cut!" attention, and the other was feeling like any change would be interpreted as a (laughably failed) effort to be more attractive, even if it was just to cool off in the summer. So I made sure not to change anything, insofar as was possible. Gradual changes were ok, as they'd go unnoticed, or at least unremarked, so growing hair longer was ok, cutting it was not. Basically it was stay in your lane, and no signalling when forced to merge when the lane ended. And my small school didn't even have the bullies and mean girls to contend with. I don't think I would've survived high school if it had.

So it really hit home when they were laughing at her for trying to look like the model. Except that she actually was. :/
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 9:49 am Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:

And it's a good thing she'll become a friend with the shallow people? I don't see that as a good thing. "OMG, you're one of us!" No, she's not and her reaction just to the gal's smell should have been enough of a clue. Her ode to superficiality is only skin deep for now but I bet it's going to get worse before it gets better.


I'm very curious about the gyaru.
Why is she so interested on Rika? Yeah, maybe she just wants to be friends, nothing more, but I feel that there's something more there... not that I'm saying that I suspect she is not a honest girl and have some shaddy intentions, on the contrary.
I'm imagining that Rika will eventually realize that those girls, and all her classmates, are not all that "superficial". They're young, just that, and it's normal to be interested in sex and be a bit immature. Even she is interested on the same thing, the big difference is that she is just to shy about it.

Animegomaniac wrote:
How would I do the "hot girl is hot only once she looks as what we agree with is hot, namely she fixes her hair and takes off her glasses" plot? Oh no, it's Not Another Teen Anime is it? Yeah, I wouldn't do stories like that, mostly because I like glasses. Also, they tend to end on "but there's the one guy who saw she was beautiful all along." Blah.


Even people who says that they prefer simpler and more common looks can't help but be affected by the fashion trends. If she looks good she looks good.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 9:56 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Well, this episode finally hit on something I could identify with, and that's The Haircut. There were two components to the trauma of changing a hairstyle for me. One was just dreading all the, "Oh, you got your hair cut!" attention, and the other was feeling like any change would be interpreted as a (laughably failed) effort to be more attractive, even if it was just to cool off in the summer. So I made sure not to change anything, insofar as was possible. Gradual changes were ok, as they'd go unnoticed, or at least unremarked, so growing hair longer was ok, cutting it was not. Basically it was stay in your lane, and no signalling when forced to merge when the lane ended. And my small school didn't even have the bullies and mean girls to contend with. I don't think I would've survived high school if it had.

So it really hit home when they were laughing at her for trying to look like the model. Except that she actually was. :/


Two things here.
1- cutting hair trope;
Classical, Rika cutting her hair shows her will to change.
2- It's actually about her eyes, isn't it?

Along with removing her glasses she cut her bangs, highlighting her eyes even more. Maybe she has a good eye for fashion sense? After all she looked and thought about what makes Erika pretty, and how to look like her, and that was her answer.
She was right, it worked splendidly, and also narratively it shows her resolve to not hiding anymore, looking at others more directly and more importantly, allowing other to looks clearing at her.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
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Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 2:27 am Reply with quote
No comment about Niina looking up a director after seeing an ad for his latest movie? A *really* creepy director who “likes working with children” because of the “darkness” he perceives in them? And we know Niina used to take acting classes where she learned some ...interesting lessons about attraction and sex from her peers? I suspect even more now that Niina has experienced sexual trauma Sad I know that Mari Okada was sexually harassed and even molested as a teen by an adult (ithe experience was recounted in the article about her memoir on this site). Learning the details, of I’m right, will break my heart, but if this show can be the first anime to pull off a realistic #MeToo plot (against creepy director) that would be amazing. Very curious how Niina’s story will go.

I’m also worried about Hongo and Milo-Sensei. I think it might just end up being the stereotypical student/teacher romance a too common in anime and manga. At least it’s not portrayed as healthy?
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:25 am Reply with quote
Episode #5 got to the part I was looking for. I'm really only watching to see the reactions. I just hope this won't turn into another After the Rain cage fight... Sad

Whatever people say about the two male adults I agree, however... I'm want to see what people may say about the "nuances" in Okada's story.
Yes, that director is a pedophile, but is established that he doesn't cross the line? That his thing is only to watch at a distance? In this episode he touched Niina, is very easy to point and acuse that, but didn't he done that to convince her to continue with the Theater Troupe? Symbolically putting him beneath her feat? The devil is death, Okada created situations that awkwardly puts the vulnerable kid into a position were she have some bit o power over him, and desire for him. We could discard this all talking about balances of power, how kids can't be responsible for themselves, but this is a story with the premisse of exploring the emotions and desires these kids have. The ways that the director affected Niina are more interesting than "omg, he's a pedophile, poor her", for example, the ways Kazusa drama parallels her feeling, in some way, I believe.

Same with Milo and Hongo.
Now that he is involved is a bit scary what an emotionally unstable young girl may do. She is the one I want to see most because for what I know Milo was telling the true and he prefers adult woman. One adult woman in particular, it seems...
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 04, 2019 12:16 pm Reply with quote
About Momo, I'm a bit curious about how some people writing about this anime "knows" about her crush on Niina. At this point in the story is really, really hard to notice that "it may" happen. I get the feeling that they were spoiled... but just about her? What about the other characters...?

Code:
and that both of them find it exciting is very worrisome.


He looks more surprised/scared than excited to me.
But he bet (against an emotionally unstable impulsive girl Laughing) that she didn't had the courage to actually do anything "exciting" and lost, so it was his fault.

The one I'm more curious is Niina.
I myself was "spoiled" about half of her story. The other half that I don't know is what I can't understand. I'm trying but I still can't see how Niina's future actions helps her to overcome her emotional problems, how it all connects. Confused
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anddo



Joined: 07 Mar 2015
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 04, 2019 3:07 pm Reply with quote
This show just keeps getting worse and worse. I'm really impressed, bravo Okada.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 952
PostPosted: Sun Aug 04, 2019 4:24 pm Reply with quote
Niina's whole backstory with the director was just so gross, and you can totally see how that attention and sudden rejection (and why) really warped with her mind. I too hope her arc in this story is more focused on herself, but unfortunately I can easily see a love triangle starting up with Izumi (more so him having feelings for her than the other way around).

I'm a bit worried about Hongo and Milo's whole deal, starting to cross some boundaries there. I loved how easily he immediately shot her down last week, so I'm a bit disappointed.

I loved Momo's whole reaction to her first (disappointing) date. Even if she isn't into girls (though I'm pretty sure she is) I do remember being on dates like that as a teen where you're like, "oh this boy is kind of annoying now."

And the whole rooftop scene was just a really nice balance of romantic fluff that the show needed after everything else going on. I don't think the show is having any issues managing its characters yet, and I think everyone is getting ample screen time and interesting moments (even if I'm unsure of the direction one of two arcs re moving in), but we'll see how things develop!
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 04, 2019 10:58 pm Reply with quote
Panino Manino wrote:


Whatever people say about the two male adults I agree, however... I'm want to see what people may say about the "nuances" in Okada's story.
Yes, that director is a pedophile, but is established that he doesn't cross the line? That his thing is only to watch at a distance? In this episode he touched Niina, is very easy to point and acuse that, but didn't he done that to convince her to continue with the Theater Troupe? Symbolically putting him beneath her feat? The devil is death, Okada created situations that awkwardly puts the vulnerable kid into a position were she have some bit o power over him, and desire for him. We could discard this all talking about balances of power, how kids can't be responsible for themselves, but this is a story with the premisse of exploring the emotions and desires these kids have. The ways that the director affected Niina are more interesting than "omg, he's a pedophile, poor her", for example, the ways Kazusa drama parallels her feeling, in some way, I believe.


I’m willing to bet I have a fairly “nuanced” opinion of pedophiles; I’m willing to entertain the idea that it’s some form of sexual orientation, and that pedophiles (up to whatever the word for pedophiles interested in teenagers is) largely can’t help the people they are attracted to. That said, Nina (and probably her teacher) might claim that he’s a non-offending pedophile, the type who abstain from CP and the like. But in truth, Nina’s teacher just wants to have his socially acceptable cake and eat it too. He might never interact with children inappropriately, but he sure doesn’t do anything to distance himself from children in his day to day life, thereby heightening the chances of him inflicting harm on his “students”, intentionally or otherwise. Him “positioning” himself below Nina says nothing when he’s an actual adult with more complex brain functions that would easily allow him to sway, coerce, or otherwise manipulate a child he claims is “above” him. He could easily step back and coach adults instead of children, but instead he indulges his worst vice under a veneer of auteurism. Yuck.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 04, 2019 11:31 pm Reply with quote
Panino Manino wrote:
Yes, that director is a pedophile, but is established that he doesn't cross the line? That his thing is only to watch at a distance? In this episode he touched Niina, is very easy to point and acuse that, but didn't he done that to convince her to continue with the Theater Troupe? Symbolically putting him beneath her feat? The devil is death, Okada created situations that awkwardly puts the vulnerable kid into a position were she have some bit o power over him, and desire for him. We could discard this all talking about balances of power, how kids can't be responsible for themselves, but this is a story with the premisse of exploring the emotions and desires these kids have. The ways that the director affected Niina are more interesting than "omg, he's a pedophile, poor her", for example, the ways Kazusa drama parallels her feeling, in some way, I believe.


What I think is important about the situation in particular, is that it could highlight of a specific part of abuse. Regardless of whether the director passed some sort of arbitrary line, not touching her except for her foot, which you put as could symbolically putting himself beneath her, she is still his victim. If that guy never did anything to her, then how could she tell that he had a thing for her? It seems pretty clear Niina even as a child could feel that he was attracted to her, that it became something that she latched on to feel special, and even then became frustrated that those special feelings leave her because his interest would be lost. First because she thought that is was because she was a little girl that he could not move forward, before it clear that attention would go after she is not.

The guy did abuse her. Even if he said that he never intended to touch her, it was still pretty much grooming, where he acted as an authority figure that was doing nice things for her because he had special feelings for her. He did not have to physically molest her to mess her up, an adult having feelings for a kid, and that kid knowing it, is pretty much already enough to mess her up, where she is seeing the becoming an adult as the death who she was that attracted the person that she thought that she was in love with. Him framing it as her being something sublime that holds power over him, being at the end of her foot, is itself a problem.

It really is not healthy what that would do to the mind of a kid, who might even be deluded to think that situation was her with all the power, while she was then (and still now) emotionally immature and unable to make fully insightful decisions. They are kids, who even as teenagers are at are in their "savage season" where they are trying to understand their feelings, desires, and what it means to have healthy relationships. And some paedophile being allowed around kids, and able to take advantage of their immature feelings in an almost seducing manner, may not be illegal, but is still morally wrong.
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Agent355



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 2:05 am Reply with quote
Watching Niina’s story, I was reminded of an interview with filmmaker Jennifer Fox who wrote and directed an HBO semi-autobiographical film about her experience being groomed and sexually abused by 2 adult coaches when she was 13. She insists that at the time, and for many years into her adulthood, she honestly thought she was in love with these adults, who showered her with attention and told her she was special. It wasn’t until her 40s that she identified her experience as “abuse,” even though it clearly was (and, IIRC, she wasn’t the only victim).
Trigger warning for frank discussion of sexual abuse, especially grooming and it’s affect on a child’s mind:

Quote:

On why it's so hard to prosecute child sexual abuse

What happens ... is that there is a slow manipulation into the child's world by the adult in which the adult is showering love and attention on the child and making them feel special. And that's why it's often — if you talk to any prosecutor — hard for children to prosecute their abusers because they feel such a complicated feeling of love and appreciation and respect, and often, that person may seem to the child to be the only adult that loves them.

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/08/636536848/a-tale-of-child-sex-abuse-was-inspired-by-filmmakers-real-life-trauma

Even without sexual contact, grooming a child is abusive (and I don’t think we have enough evidence to be sure that the director hasn’t sexually abused children that would be less obvious to authorities or CP, but I’d rather the story focus on Niina than the director.)

Talking about avoiding targets that would be obvious to authorities, Milo is playing with fire. He needs to listen to the song Don’t Stand to Close to Me by the Police (a song made infinitely more creepy when you find out Sting was a high school English teacher...) and stay the hell away from Hongo. Or, if he wants to help her, he could talk to her editor rather than suggesting psychosexual games *on campus*. Hope he has another career lined up, because this will probably be his last year teaching!
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Animegomaniac



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 2:29 am Reply with quote
"It went on like that until I was 14. Even when the men of the world began to look upon me with lewd eyes..." Cut to 14 year old Niina who doesn't look that much different from 12 year old Niina. Oh Japan, whatever will we do with you...

In the other thread, I didn't discuss the pedophile angle and I find the discussion here to be missing the point. Why is the pedophile that wouldn't have sex with a child worse than the one who would?
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Agent355



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 3:21 am Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
"It went on like that until I was 14. Even when the men of the world began to look upon me with lewd eyes..." Cut to 14 year old Niina who doesn't look that much different from 12 year old Niina. Oh Japan, whatever will we do with you...

In the other thread, I didn't discuss the pedophile angle and I find the discussion here to be missing the point. Why is the pedophile that wouldn't have sex with a child worse than the one who would?

She had breasts at 14...

No one is saying he’s “worse.” I’d argue that Niina’s almost certainly better off that he didn’t molest or rape her. But it’s clear that the relationship was unhealthy and had a negative impact on her. And I agree with Panino Manino that the nuances in the story from Niina’s perspective, how it affects her view of herself and relationships now, is way more interesting than the director. I disagree that she ever really had “power” over him, though. He’s the one choosing to work with and spend time with kids despite knowing, at the very least, that what he’s tempted to do to them is illegal. He’s like an alcoholic working in a bar,

Niina is not responsible for the director’s temptations, any more than she’s responsible for boys her age being attracted to her now, or the assumptions about her that other girls (including Kazusa), make about her or her relationship with boys based on her looks. I think she has to learn that so she’ll be more comfortable being herself and making friends.
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