Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Fena: Pirate Princess
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2294 |
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I kinda don't understand the hate on how her haircut looks. I mean--it feels to me like part of the point to the cut is that she's prioritizing determined pursuit of her goals, and is leaving behind a life where being pretty was her one job, and being beautiful/giving pleasure to the male customers at her brothel was the exclusive freedom she was allowed and valued for? In that context, ugly hair seems more appropriate than pretty hair.
I do agree it was odd that it happened off-screen and so rapidly, though.
I feel really ambivalent about the head bops. It feels like a joke that half-works; like, it's a very strange interaction and the surprise of it alone got a chuckle out of me originally, especially given how juxtaposed it is with how they interacted freely as kids. On the other hand, I feel like they were going for "awkward lovestruck no-words Yukimaru affectionately bops equally lovestruck gratuitous motormouth," or maybe like a young child throwing paper airplanes at the hair of a girl they're crushing on, but I don't know that they nailed that vibe, since his bops literally knock her out half the time and feel forceful enough that they feel more like outright abuse/violence than like hyper-awkward attempts to communicate. Maybe another way of putting it is: I think they took a joke that fundamentally could work if it were done more gently and weren't done in exaggerated slapstick, but then they did it exactly in exaggerated slapstick, despite that the characters' bodies appear, for the most part, pretty realistic and grounded (outside of, I guess, the flying window belly flop attack). |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4828 |
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Oh, I just think it's very very ugly and too boyish. Not blaming the character herself; I'm blaming the director for going "Yup, that looks GREAT!"....because it doesn't. We're not hating the fact that she cut it...but how the style is hideous and how unimportant the episode treated it. There was no buildup and no attempt to make it look dramatic. Like I said, (and it's just my opinion) making her look just like a boy (and she really REALLY does now), undercuts the feminist message of the show. Like it's saying "Hey girls, you can do action stuff...but you have to be as unfeminine about it as possible." One reason why magical girl shows are so beloved is that the girls can kick butt while still being/looking quite girlish. They don't need buzzcuts and pants to save the day. They're doing it in pretty dresses and flowing locks and with sparkly jewelry. That is the selling point and it's a pretty great one. Now if you're commanding a pirate ship, wearing pants MIGHT be more practical...but there's no reason to make the female character look like an eight-year-old boy. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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The thing that I find hilarious about the Haircut of Transformation™ is that Fena needs to cut her hair to show she's now powerful and committed, while Yukimaru and especially Shitan are still sporting their glorious (if a bit stringy - lookin' at you Yuki-kun) manes. Long hair doesn't seem to slow them down or get in their way.
As for it happening offscreen, I guess they figured we'd seen the trope enough times that we didn't need to see it again, and showing us would've just resulted in a groan of "oh, not this again." They figured they'd sidestep that by just making it a done deal, but it seems that people actually are up for "this again." The head bops I could do without, but for me it lands mostly as a trope reversal of women violently bashing men for their sins, and it does get her to shut up briefly, so I can certainly sympathize with Yukimaru's exasperation.
Been wondering that myself. |
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NeverConvex
Subscriber Posts: 2294 |
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I definitely agree that it doesn't parse very coherently as a feminist / girl power sort of thing, and comes off as a bit of a mixed message if that was the intent. I was reading it somewhat differently from that, though -- that, cutting her hair was very specifically a rejection of the brothel life she had finally escaped, in which her beauty/appeal to men was equated with her value. An ugly, convenient haircut as she dedicates herself to a new life seems like a clear symbol for a big "Noooope" to that. The content to work with is at this point a little thin, so maybe I'm misreading what they were going for, but I think it seems pretty internally consistent, if this is the message they were hoping to convey. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4828 |
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@Gina Szanboti
THAT'S HILARIOUS to point out. I didn't even think about it.  Good point, sir good point. Yukimaru has long hair!!
@NeverConvex OH. Oh, I didn't look at it from that angle! But...yes, that actually does make a ton of sense. It didn't cross my mind that she wanted to throw her beauty away...but that may have been exactly what the cut was about. Yes....good thinking. It fits. |
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Hal14
 Posts: 665 Location: Heart of africa |
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A similar thing happened in Peachboy riverside. Fmc cut her hair because "her femininity was holding her back" or something like that. Meanwhile, the guy she respects gets mistaken as a girl constantly, has long hair, and is regarded as prettier than most girls. This haircut trope isn't inherently dumb. If the character is cutting it as a mark of their grief that might make sense (e.g. Kageki shoujo). But when it's because they want to be 'tough' it's just silly |
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Panino Manino
 Posts: 734 |
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I disagree a lot. If she was to do something as a message towards the brothel the moment had already passed and became irrelevant. But it was not that, cutting her hair is a punishment. It's a self humiliation for her mistakes, for her attitude towards her father, for thinking more about herself instead of thinking about how to honor him (like an idol that shaves her hair to repent). This is not empowering at all, she is just following what others told her to do and she wouldn't even do it herself, a bunch of people will do it for her and she'll get all the credits "as she deserves" because she is a "princess" and they are just inferior servants. |
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Mami-kouga
Posts: 161 |
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Wow people are taking the semantics of the haircut trope more seriously than I expected. I just viewed it in a similar manner to something that happened with someone I knew IRL- when she got depressed she shaved her eyebrows because she felt that she needed a tangible expression of her depression to help her get her shit together. In that sense cutting her hair into a more practical style for adventure was just a tangible reminder of resolve. It's something that will always be with her and will be difficult for her to ignore.
Also I never found the haircut ugly in the first place so ╮(＾▽＾)╭. I was too busy getting angry at Yukimaru scolding Fena for not "taking responsibility like the rest of them" as if she's had anytime whatsoever to process being foisted with a grand adventure based off vague memories she had as a child after escaping being held at a brothel for a literal decade. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14758 |
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Lol, seems like some of domestic violence on Fena are played of as antics
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dm
Subscriber Posts: 1355 |
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So, I'm thinking Fena lays unconscious for half a day after a blow to the head. Luckily, no concussion.
And fair Fena lays unconscious in the sun for half a day, and doesn't get up lobster red from sunburn. But that's just because I'm put in a bit of a sour mood by the goofiness. For that, I should chill out --- this isn't a show for me, but may make a fine children's adventure. |
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
 SubscriberExempt from Grammar Rules Posts: 611 Location: inland US west, pretty rural |
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So our heroes have a submarine. Hmmm. Still seems like a perfectly good show, but I think history buffs may need to lower their expectations a bit. Anyway...
Early on, we see Goblin Island's boss standing next to feathers. Then we see a carrier pigeon flying. And then we see Abel the blonde guy look at a carrier pigeon outside a window. He smiles. No dialog, and we don't get the contents of any message- yet. Plot may be thickening a bit. Nit picking: can a pigeon find a ship? Mr. Abel explains to the Lady Pirate why it would be indiscreet, and bad business, to spoiler[ send soldiers into an open pirate city]. And it has something to do with England's wealth spoiler[from both American farms and open cities]. More plot thickening. skipping the meat of the episode... Towards the end, Abel's young aid looks at Fena and says "alba regina" ( White Queen, according to google translate ). And some more cryptic stuff. More plot thickening. Abel, back on his ship, looks at a spoiler[ locket just like Fena's], and says, wonderingly, spoiler[ "Do you have any idea who you are?"] There's a close-up of his eye. Looks a lot like Fena's, to me. How much plot thickening are we gonna get? And what's the age rating on crunchy's version of this? The lady pirate is spoiler[pretty naked when she leans on Abel's back and says something like "The night has only just begun."] |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4828 |
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The rating is TV-14...though I would make it a bit higher, personally.
This week's episode was pretty damn funny with Yukimaru being forced to stay on the ship...especially when we learn this is THE USUAL ROUTINE for him.
....also did you see how far he jumped back when she touched his hand? What a dork. 
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MoonPhase1
Posts: 492 |
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It’s rated TV-MA-S on Toonami even though their promos say TV-14-DLSV. |
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Panino Manino
Posts: 734 |
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Typical early episode where we get acquainted with the cast personalities seeing they act all hectic and super noise, very inhuman, I hate this... Also, the antagonist talking all cryptic to the winds and super obvious...
That blonde man is probably Fena relative. She was found after her father ship sunk and was hidden there. She should had stayed there until an indefinite date but putting herself for auction gave the others the opportunity to be rescued. Now the old man on the island is in contact with blonde because of course, being related and probably heir to Fena's father business the old man is obliged to serve him and together will follow Fena very closely. In the end will be that Yukimaru will have to defy his samurai honor fighting the others to protect Fena. I have a few ideas about the stone but... I really don't like to see it. |
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1498 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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TV-MAS for episode 1, TV-14V for episode 2, TV-MAS for episode 3. The TV-14DLSV is just a blanket rating, suggesting the scope of ratings that could potentially be covered by present and future episodes. (And if you ask me, I think the MA ratings are just S&P overcompensating because they normally don't have to deal with anything ecchi, much like how they've done with the ratings for Kill la Kill and Food Wars.) Contrary to my expectations, the O'Malley Pirates are actually kind of fun. Still don't like Mary's design much; reminds me too much of Dobson's feminist pirate comic. |
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