Forum - View topicThe Spring 2021 Preview Guide
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SciasSlash
Posts: 117 |
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Yeah. For some women, couldn't having something that was troubling or uncomfortable for them turned into comedy or a romantic fantasy be... part of the appeal? I know plenty of people who had bad breakups with controlling girlfriends who liked romcoms about a controlling tsundere type character specifically for that reason. Or sexual assault survivors who like goblin slayer because its just a guy mowing down the most cartoonish sex monsters imaginable. That doesn't make those things unassailable or whatever, but why do you have to psychoanalyze or deny people's real experiences just because they like a cartoon/comic book you don't? Can't you just say those experiences make it so *you* don't like this? |
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paworksfan
Posts: 9 |
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Koikimo is josei - one of the few josei anime to get made ... we go whole seasons and sometimes whole years without full length josei anime - not shonen or seinen. So, it isn't going to be fantasy fuel for 13 year old boys - who are more likely to watch significantly less controversial age gap romances between teen males and adult females like "Onegai Teacher" (popular enough to spawn two sequels) and the recent "Why Are You Here Teacher" (which had practically every female teacher in an entire high school dating one of her male students including some who had known the boys since childhood) - or 31 year old "boys."
Also, criticizing stuff that offends you is OK, but we need to realize that Japanese culture is going to have a very different view of sexuality than the west due to: A. origins in shinto/Buddhist worldviews rather than Christianity B. arranged marriage traditions that are only recently being dismantled C. single sex schools and other sex segregation institutions that - again - are only recently being dismantled D. a much lower age of consent (it was recently raised and is still far lower than in much of the west) E. a much lower rate of sex crimes - as well as violent crime generally - meaning there is practically no fear of sex crimes being caused by entertainment (where in the west it is a very real fear) It is a tad hypocritical - for lack of a better term - to praise anime for LONG being far more open at dealing with LGBTQIA issues thanks to these same cultural differences without being willing to acknowledge that the "problematic and offensive" tropes exist for much the same reason. Good grief, so many anime "romances" - Ai Yori Aoshi, Naruto and even the recent Tonikawa - still convey the "arranged marriage" mindset because dating and even courtship wasn't a thing in the narrative. Lots of other romance anime seems nostalgic for arranged marriages because their depictions of dating anyone other than your cousin or next door neighbor childhood friend is often nightmarish. If one desires works to reflect western views of morality and propriety, then one is going to have to seek out western entertainment to get it. |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 1389 |
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Hi yeah, could you please explain which of these cultural differences makes an adult romantically pursuing a teenager against their will funny? I'd be very grateful for a more indepth explanation. |
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lhernan02
Posts: 196 |
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This is a bit of an admin question, but isn't Theron Martin doing reviews anymore? I still see him as a forum mod, but did not see him in the best/worst and most expected and now in the spring preview?
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 647 |
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This. Also good job not understanding statistics! You know what a lower reported rate means? A lower reported rate. That’s it. It doesn’t mean less of it. It can, and regularly does, mean that there is more of ignored. Usually because the victims of it know reporting it won’t lead to anything being done to help them. The idea that Japan is a magically sex-crime free place is patently absurd. Especially since every point you bring up before that (excluding the religion angle because that’s a whole other can of worms that you really haven’t brought anything worth responding to there) are reasons that they happen. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 2941 Location: Email for assistance only |
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Theron's last written work for us was the season finale of Black Clover. As for the other line of discussion, I'll just leave this here. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/12/224e3c9557eb-focus-unintended-pregnancies-occurring-among-teens-young-women-during-pandemic.html |
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lhernan02
Posts: 196 |
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Oh, OK, he just seemed to be a contrarian viewpoint to the current reviewers so I always liked to see his take as a counterpoint. Thanks for the prompt reply. |
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SciasSlash
Posts: 117 |
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they never said 'these cultural differences make it funny' |
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave
Posts: 501 Location: Poland |
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"Why Are You Here Teacher" is a porn comedy, and not very realistic one at that, so it's normal to not treat it very seriously in moral sense. It's just a bunch of dumb sexy nonsense for people who are or were into their high school teachers. |
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Saeryen
 Posts: 884 |
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Pretty Cure continues to be amazing. I am just in love with this series.
I also just watched the first episode of Those Snow White Notes, and it looks really good so far! As Rebecca pointed out, it is reminiscent of Kono Oto Tomare and I love that about it, since Kono Oto is a favorite of mine. Also, Yuna is a GREAT character and I hope we see more of her. |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10420 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Kinda tired of getting the "Japan has a different perspective on sexuality that the west," from people who live in the West. I don't know about you paworksfan, but most of the people who make that comment are white AF, have never been to Japan, and their entire understanding of Japanese sexuality comes from pop culture. At ANN, we are very much aware of the fact that Japan has different views on sexuality than the west; we're also very much aware that anime is fantasy and doesn't represent the POV of the average Japanese individual. In no way do we consider ourselves experts on Japanese sexual dynamics, but given that half of the ANN staff have lived, or do live in Japan, at various points of our lives, and we make our livings writing about Japanese culture, we definitely aren't ignorant about the differences between Japanese sexual culture and western sexual culture. Suffice to say, I disagree with you. I think a lot of Japanese people... nay, I know a lot of Japanese people would find the content of this anime just as problematic as some of our reviewers did. But... that's honestly, entirely irrelevant. The most important problem with your complaint it this:
Our reviewers are westerner anime fans, they are paid to express their points of view on anime, and they are paid to do so for an English speaking market. Just because our staff writes from a certain perspective doesn't mean they aren't aware of other perspectives, but our mission is to serve western fans, not Japanese fans. Since the very beginning, there have always been some anime and manga that succeed in some markets, and fail in others. Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne are two of the most famous examples of anime that weren't particularly successful in Japan, but were huge hits outside of Japan. Should we have reviewed these two anime from a Japanese point of view, and given them failing grades, even though we knew that our western readers were going to love these titles? Obviously not. Reviewing Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, or Koikimo from a Japanese perspective would have been pointless. Let me repeat it again, we write from the perspective of western anime fans, and for western anime fans. Certainly there will always be people who will disagree with our reviews, but complaining that we aren't reviewing anime from a Japanese perspective is missing the point. A few comments on your "facts."
Dismantled more than two generations ago, and 100% dismantled in the mind of the younger generation. Factually you're correct, but practically speaking, the influence of parental arrangements on marriage is probably smaller in Japan than it is in the West right now.
-t Last edited by Tempest on Fri Apr 02, 2021 5:41 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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ab2143
Posts: 707 |
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Those snow white notes - I love how the Yoshida Brothers will be supervising the music used in the anime and contributed to the ED. Their talent was sadly wasted on Gibiate lmao
Even as an anime-only person, the pacing did feel really fast. That, and some of the drama felt forced. Other than that, good stuff. Looking forward to more! Appreciated the comparison to the manga from Rebecca's review. Last edited by ab2143 on Fri Apr 02, 2021 6:07 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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musouka
Posts: 707 |
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Just as a personal clarification, I have no issue with people finding Koikimo gross or not wanting to watch it, nor do I think the reviewers have to keep in mind an anime fan's idea of "Japanese culture" when they review something. (An older man pursuing a teenage girl is not unique to any one culture that exists, unfortunately.)
My only issue is with the idea that--again--the target audience of adult women must have never had experience with sexual harassment or assault, otherwise they would hate the show as much as the reviewer does. I think that crosses a line. Even preview reviews of Mushoku Tensei were able to keep their disgust to the actions of the character, not saying things like, "no REAL victim of sexual assault would ever enjoy this." |
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Horsefellow
 Posts: 262 |
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It's also not a unique subject limited to any one country's media. There's a reason why age gap and other "taboo" themes are in so many American romance novels and shoujo/josei manga, because they are legitimately popular and their sales numbers clearly speak for themselves that a majority of female readers are eating this stuff up. But as with all things some some people don't like this stuff so it completely turns them off due to personal views and beliefs. Nothing really wrong with that, because opinions and all, but I think we have enough examples to show this isn't a Japan VS America thing. Lord knows mainstream stuff like Twilight and 50 Shades got so much criticism thrown at them for some of the themes they had. |
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kurichan69
 Posts: 112 Location: Seattle, WA |
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THANK YOU, TEMPEST! I was literally thinking so much of what you wrote here when I read paworksfan's comment. (I've redacted most of your reply to spare us all.) As an adult western woman who lived and worked in Japan and married a Japanese guy, those kinds of comments from people who have no idea what they are talking about are not only uneducated and tiresome but they actually reflect badly on western anime watchers. Especially now with all the anti-Asian sentiment running rampant, the last thing we need is anyone making ill-informed comments that fit into Asian stereotypes especially concerning sex and women. Regarding reporting sex crimes, here's something I unfortunately have a lot of personal experience with: Girls and women are actually discouraged from "making a fuss" when groped on the train. They are not supposed to actually say anything out loud to their molester and if they do, everyone will either ignore it or stare disapprovingly at the victim, thinking she should just put up with it or get off the train instead of disturbing everyone. Reporting it? Hell no. Too embarrassing for everyone. So you think they will report sex crimes when they won't even say anything about being molested on a train? I could go on and on about this subject but it's not the right space so I'll just say thanks again for jumping in with your thoughtful and relevant comments. (Btw, I did not watch the show because I read the first chapter of the manga and it was such a OH HELL NO that I won't bother watching.) |
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