Forum - View topicANNCast - No Matter How I Look At It, It's Just A Podcast
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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This thread's kind of slow. I was hoping more people would have something to say about this series.
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2444 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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Like others above, thanks for doing another episode in this format. I really like the fact that you're not only taking the time to really dig into the ideas and themes of a given title, but that we're bringing new and different titles to the table to talk about. Watamote this time, Penguindrum a few months back.
It's a welcome respite from having every serious anime discussion inevitably end up turning to Evangelion, and every non-serious one turn into an FMA "Brotherhood Is / Is Not Better" bitch-fest. |
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invalidname
Contributor Posts: 2444 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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I'm four eps into Watamote and I wonder… does anyone remember this episode of 30 Rock in which Liz Lemon loathes the thought of going to her high school reunion, saying that everyone treated her terribly and that's why she hated them all, but the reality turns out to be that she just had a huge chip on her shoulder and that really her classmates were pretty decent and she was really the source of her own anti-social problems?
I distinctly remembered that while watching the scene early in Watamote when Tomoko is watching the girl who manages the baseball team and a boy from the team and she's mentally putting obscene dialogue in their mouths, even finishing with a Bevis & Butthead style laugh. But as we watch the scene play out as distant observers, we have no reason to think that those two are anything other than normal kids, and that any problem Tomoko has with them is literally in her own head. Just as everyone in Liz's class turns out to be normal, and she's the bad guy. |
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Tanteikingdomkey
 Posts: 2346 |
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I watched two episodes of this show and liked it enough but was in the same opinion as zack really, I did not want to watch the show since it seemed it was not really funny to me also I was watching genshiken second generation, which had enough fujoshi conent for me as a guy.
I actually could see it getting more episodes since Chiyafuru season 2 got 25 episodes (let alone made at all). and I see watamote doing more in terms of manga and merchandising. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15309 |
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*Sigh*. I guess I can laugh both with and at the protagonist, since I've been there, but not as badly as her-but at the same time, not as far off from her, either.
invalid:
The source of my problems was going to a shitty school, when I could've done better. [We didn't even have a grass field.] But there were...circumstances which prevented me from changing up. Parsifal:
It's not a lie if you have your own clique. What is a lie is that busting your ass to get better grades or just doing community service will help you land a good job, or any job at all. Bush was a retard, and he still got to be a Governor and President, so... |
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GhostOfSide3
 Posts: 75 Location: Memphis, TN |
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A+ Stan Lee impersonation, Zac.
I haven't seen Watamote yet. I still need to catch up on a lot of things from last season. |
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Arkthelad
Posts: 108 |
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Uhh, off topic but are Zac and Hope Chapman a couple?
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Tanteikingdomkey
Posts: 2346 |
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I have never heard that.... |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Yeah, we live together. I thought it was fairly obvious (and also not something to make a deal out of or really comment on further!) |
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Tanteikingdomkey
Posts: 2346 |
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Sorry for commenting on it, and congratulations about it. |
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Jen Bigby
 Posts: 112 |
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The talk about America favoring redeemable protagonists made me think of comparing Watamote to Daria. Daria was also anti-social and had issues, but at the same time she was portrayed as being the voice of reason and intellectually superior to most of her classmates and family. I guess it to was to appeal to all those kids in high school who felt like outcasts and they didn't belong but at the same time they also held this sense of superiority to the people who ostracized them and made them feel left out out of some kinda bitterness
 Tomoko's definitely a lot less glorified
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daichi383
 Posts: 313 Location: England |
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I find myself identifying way too heavily with the main character which is why i just can't find myself laughing and instead just end up cringing the whole way through. I guess it's because i'm only just starting to move away from that way of thinking that i'd rather not be reminded of it after being stuck like that for so long. Still currently in therapy might be for another few months but at this point in time i can hold normal conversations for as long as i need to but soon after i still end up thinking the way she does.
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Ingraman
Posts: 1077 |
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Darn... Paul Chapman mentions that he's watching Humanity Has Declined, but then doesn't say anything about it. That was a tease! ;p
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invalidname
Contributor Posts: 2444 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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One other late reaction… I happened to rewatch an episode of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU today, and there's probably some interesting compare-and-contrast you can do between that and Watamote. SNAFU's Hachiman is as misanthropic as Tomoko, and has social difficulties (in the first episode, Yukino calls him on having not talked to a girl in two years) but he does this weird thing where he thinks he's better than everyone because of his cynicism, and instead of retreating entirely into his head like Tomoko, he instead adopts a devil-may-care attitude whereby he says and does awful things, not caring what anyone will think because he assumes he'll either be overlooked or loathed anyways. No matter how you look at it, it's his own fault he's not popular (indeed, he strives not to be). Then again, unlike Tomoko, he has plenty of characters around him to call him on his BS.
Very different style to these shows, but both playing with awkward and troubled protagonists, and fun to watch. As much as I hope I wasn't Tomoko in my youth, I have to remind myself not to be Hachiman in the present. |
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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First of all, great podcast. I didn't listen to the Penguindrum podcast because I wanted to avoid spoilers, but this discussion was great and I'd enjoy series discussion shows in the future.
I don't think of Tomoko as a bad person. She has a defense mechanism in which she separates herself from others to avoid the pain of admitting that her own severe social anxiety keeps her from developing meaningful relationships. I like the insight that she's sexually obsessed in general, because when she was obsessing over her friend's breasts I did wonder if she was bi--but really most teenagers have moments when they sexualize everything around them regardless of sexual orientation. In that and in its depiction of extreme social anxiety, the show had a just-bigger-than-real-life take that could make you relate and laugh at the same time. Bamboo had a good take on Watamote in her stream columns, where she wrote that the show takes Tomoko's behavior to an utmost extreme so that even people who relate to her the most can say "at least I'm not that bad!" I also agree with Bamboo that Tomoko can bring out the most moe feelings in those of us who sympathize and empathize with her. Invalidname the comparison with the less disabled Hachiman from SNAFU is a good one. I'm also reminded of the ladies of the Sisterhood from Princess Jellyfish. They don't characterize themselves as better than others, per se, but they do freeze up when meeting new people and stick to the comfort of their clique. |
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