On Representation

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Broadly speaking we tend to see society become a little more open towards different groups over time, and with that comes slowly but surely increasing media representation of them. A cynical way to look at this is that it’s simply because their existence has become profitable, and that’s certainly a very valid way to look at it given the slew of middlebrow oscar bait exploiting historical prejudice and hamfisted tokenism. A more positive way to see it is that media representation gives us a platform to humanise different groups, to become aware of their existence and their validity as individuals. I believe both perspectives can be true at once, and in that sense there needs to be conscious thought about how representation is implemented.

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Life and Creativity with Casey Neistat

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Casey Neistat explains his philosophy very simply in the video Life Explained in 27 Seconds: “Life is like going the wrong way on a moving sidewalk. Walk and you stay put. Stand still and you go backwards. To get ahead you have to hustle”. Casey Neistat is always moving.

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Recent Funcurve Content Roundup

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As you may have noticed, this blog has been pretty dead over the last few months. Meanwhile, my content stream for Funcurve has continued and I’ve just neglected posting any of it here. So in the interest of consistency I’ve decided I’ll just post everything I’ve done since then right here. Links to it all can be found after the break.

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Charlotte Funcurve Review

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Charlotte - 12 (1280x720 HEVC AAC).mkv_snapshot_17.26_[2015.11.18_15.09.52]

So, there were some complications that I couldn’t get to with this Charlotte review until I was back from my three week trip to Japan, but those were sorted out and just a few days ago this was published.

I thought Charlotte was pretty rubbish. Pretty much everything bad I’ve ever heard about Jun Maeda. Lame repetitive slapstick gags, completely ridiculous unearned dramatic peaks and ends up crushed under the weight of plot twists it doesn’t have nearly enough grace to handle. But let’s not dwell on these things. That JoJo: Stardust Crusaders review is done and it’s coming very soon if you want something a little less mean from me.

You can find the review right here.

My Fall 2015 Anime Rankings (Of Everything I Watched)

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[HorribleSubs] One-Punch Man - 01 [720p].mkv_snapshot_21.53_[2015.10.05_12.27.30]

A new season comes with a slew of new Anime, and things are looking considerably better than last season. I didn’t do anything like this for last season because I really wasn’t watching much. Gatchaman Crowds: Insight is actually the only series I finished, with everything else falling into backlog limbo. I’m glad to say that this season all my most insatiable desires are being met from human drama to popcorn to cutesy fluff, with big hits and reliable picks all around. I also came across a couple duds, but I was careful to avoid most of the stuff that didn’t look appealing to me. So, here’s my thoughts on all dozen first episodes I watched, arbitrarily ranked from best to worst and reviewed in one sentence with some notes attached to the end on how interested I am in continuing with them. Continue reading “My Fall 2015 Anime Rankings (Of Everything I Watched)” →

Charlotte Episodes 1-3 Review (Full Series Review Excerpt)

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Charlotte - 02 (1280x720 HEVC AAC).mkv_snapshot_08.08_[2015.10.11_23.46.06]

So, I’ve got a big review of the whole 48 episodes of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders for Funcurve that’s on the way. The first half review is finished but the whole thing is going to be published back to back, so I decided I wouldn’t keep you waiting with a preview post a month or two before the review is even published. Before I get to the second half I decided to write about something completely different, so here I am writing about friggin’ Charlotte. This was a choice that was sort of made on a whim, as I haven’t seen very much of Jun Maeda but have a nagging curiosity about his super divisive melodramas. In the earlygoing Charlotte is… okayish? There’s definitely a lot of things about Maeda’s style that are immediate turn-offs to me, but there’s bits and pieces that I think I just might come to like in the long run, or not. You can find the preview after the break.

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Amagi Brilliant Park Funcurve Review

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[ReinForce] Amagi Brilliant Park - OPv4 (BDRip 1920x1080 x264 FLAC).mkv_snapshot_01.21_[2015.08.22_16.56.55]

This post is a month later than it probably should have been, but I thought it was worthwhile to post a link to my review of Amagi Brilliant Park here. Amagi Brilliant Park is good quality popcorn, with plenty of lovable KyoAni comedic grace. It lags in its final stretch from being a bit too self-serious, but it makes a solid recovery for a nice conclusion.

You can find the full review here.

“You’re Overanalysing It”

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As it has been known for quite some time, and as has grown tenfold with the expansion of net culture and the agency it gives people to yell at one another more easily than ever before, there’s a very clear subset of people who cringe at the simple idea of “art”, of interpretation. You really can’t get too invested in any media analysis or criticism without being called a pretentious blowhard at some point or another. It’s a basic inevitability. Maybe they didn’t like doing English in High School, maybe they had a bad personal experience with an snooty elitist or two; but I’m not here to assume why they might feel annoyed or even threatened by the notion of “art”. What I want to discuss is specifically the mindset itself. I want to discuss the relationship this thought process has to how people consume and discuss media. It’s a subject that’s come up many times in many circles, but I think it’s still a subject as pertinent as ever.

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Sword Art Online II Funcurve Review

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[neko-raws]Sword Art Online II - NCOP[BD][1080p][Hi10p][FLAC][3559021F].mkv_snapshot_01.31_[2015.07.21_00.05.52]

Meant to post this a couple days ago but I was a bit lazy about it. I’m pretty proud of this review. Sword Art Online really has no shortage of things to talk about, to say the least. It’s a series with all sorts of problematic elements, but it has the admirable sense of a series that wants to improve. I think Sword Art Online II is a respectable outcome of that motivation, and despite serious stumbles it truly delivers in the end. It might not be worth it for people who utterly hated the series to keep watching, but for fans and for anyone with just a little earnest love for SAO there’s a fair bit to be pleased with in this sequel series.

You can find the link to this review here.

Amagi Brilliant Park Episodes 1-4 Review (Full Series Review Excerpt)

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[Vivid] Amagi Brilliant Park - 03 [9F3D6650].mkv_snapshot_01.45_[2014.10.19_15.48.33]

With Sword Art Online II out of the way and ready to be published, my next project for Funcurve is Amagi Brilliant Park. This is a fun little series I never got to finish when it aired. Just a really playful and silly show that demonstrates KyoAni’s comedy chops really nicely. Not always a hit, but pleasant all around. Preview of my full review comes after the break.

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