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Shelf Life - Dirty Dancing

My apologies, I wasn't implying your age, I was just wondering his age since he was probably a young teen around the time "anime clubs" became quite popluar underground.

Did you know that A-kon is like the oldest known American anime con? Its been around since '88.

Ah the original Dirty Pair, that brings back some memories. I can highly recommend DP Flash OVA too. The designs were updated for the 90's, but they were just as good and took nothing away from the kick ass story and plot.

It's a show about two women (based on female wrestlers) who work as bounty hunters and blow up anything that gets in their way. How does it sound like a manifestation of Japanese Imagination Handicap?

Also, I'd point out that just because we can imagine a world where everybody is equal and we all sing kumbiya and dance into the sunset doesn't mean it's likely to happen. This in no way excuses lazy or misogynist writing, of course, but I'd like to read more SF that deals with how frictions between genders and ethnicities will be affected by scientific and technological advances, beyond simply assuming they'll disappear.

(Except for the sub-genre of super feminist SF where women fleeing the patriarchy establish their own planet where they all become lesbians and clone new babies - all girls, of course. Important, maybe, but not really my cup of tea.)

And remember, the second season of GitS:SAC had empowered women and all that jazz, bu it also had (for me) disturbingly ethno-centric nationalism, too.

Yeesh, that's not what I meant at all. A "kumbaya" world would be boring.My problem is that a lot of Japanese sci-fi simply projects current gender standards into the future unchanged.

Oh come on, most of those are straw-feminist pieces where eventually we discover women really need men...

Well, in a "don't get involved militarilty in world conflicts" sort of way, yeah. Mamoru Oshii wrote the scenario for the season, and he's very pissed about American military bases in Japan and the hypocritical use of the SDF. I take it as a warning piece against rightist trends, and sort of positive nationalism; it advocates for the refugees against those who'd get rid of them, and argues that true nationalism is to not become a military power again. But it's definitely a series open to interpretation, which is part of why I like it. It does look at issues of nationality and race in the wake of new technology.

I can't say I'm really happy about GitS:SAC's depiction of the US, but in this post 9/11 world I have to admit that it is a fair criticism (and its not like Hollywood is known for its nuanced villains). In general, I suppose the nationalism the show advocates is pretty positive. The thing that irritates me is that they kick the refugees out in the end, though - I don't think we can solve the world's immigration problems by segregating people, just the opposite in fact. And with its declining population, I think Japan needs to become more accepting of immigrants in general..

This is easy for me to say as an American, though, and not a member of a society that bases its identity on race.