Crunchyroll on the History of Magical Girls

Yet another video on the history of the magical girl genre, this time from the YouTube channel of Crunchyroll, the streaming service.

Any of these are necessarily selective, though I find this one slightly more irritating than usual. When it comes to discussing Sailor Moon, it focuses on gayness while ignoring more sigificant accomplishments and also claims Sailor Moon basically introduced homosexuality to anime—a statement as ignorant as all the claims from a few years back that Black Panther was the first movie with black people in it. Crunchyroll also treats of Puella Magi Madoka Magica as the first self-aware or self-critical magical girl series, a claim so common yet erroenous that it’s produced a cottage industry of blowback.

The genre has always been self-aware and included some amount of self-mockery, so much so that self-awareness may be one of its central characteristics, but it has also seen deliberate deconstructions before Madoka. What Madoka accomplished that its predecessors didn’t is a complete reorienting of the genre toward uglier content and more nihilistic themes. Madoka, like Sailor Moon before it, turned the whole genre into its imitators.

Aside from that, well, whatever; a lot of commenters over on YouTube have complained that this video fails to mention some particular series or other, but since this is a half-hour, condensed discussion, a lot is necessarily going to get excluded.

In any case, collecting historical overviews of the genre is part of my schtick here, so I repost them as I find them.

It may or may not be coincidental that Crunchyroll has recently acquired the rights to Healin’ Good Pretty Cure, which I believe is the first Pretty Cure series—except the original—to get licensed in English (not counting the brutally localized Glitter Force adaptations on Netflix). To a magical girl fan, that’s significant, and I hope it means more Pretty Cure series will appear on the service in the future. Since I refuse to use pirate sites, I still haven’t been able to watch most of this magical girl mega-franchise.

At the time of writing, however, only episodes 13 to 17 of Healin’ Good are available, but a notice indicates that episodes 1 to 12 will appear later. This perhaps represents some problems with the licensing.

Movie Review: ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’

Sonic the Hedgehog, directed by Jeff Fowler. Written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Starring Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, and Jim Carrey. Paramount Pictures, 2020. Rated PG.

 Sonic the Hedgehog is probably most memorable not for its content but for its disastrous roll-out, which will be the stuff of movie legend: Early previews delivered a weird design for the famous blue hedgehog, who had creepy, tiny eyes and bizarre proportions. After this received overwhelmingly negative responses from fans, presaging a bomb, the studio hastily redid the character model to bring it in line with Sonic’s appearance in video games and cartoons.

The original, disturbing design for Sonic the Hedgehog.

The end result was the—so far—highest-grossing movie based on a video game. At least part of that box-office success was driven by the goodwill of fans impressed that a studio had listened to their complaints.

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Television Review: ‘Miraculous Ladybug,’ Season 3, Part 2

Miraculous Ladybug, Season 3, Part 1, directed by Thomas Astruc. Written by Nicky Baker et al. Zagtoon, 2019. Rated TV-Y7. 13 episodes.

It had seemed, after the second season of Miraculous Ladybug made it from France to the United States, that the distributor had worked out the problem with the jumbled episode order. The third season of the show, however, tells us this is not the case: The episodes are crazily out of order here, which is a problem since this third season continues to develop a linear plot. Despite that, this is another strong season overall with only a few flubs. A viewer just needs to be willing to go with the flow, to assume that previously unmentioned plot points or characters will get their introduction at some point.

I earlier wrote about the first half of the third season and think this previous post only needs a slight update now that the third season is available in its entirety.

The beginning of this season’s second half is not encouraging: It’s a recap episode, and like all recap episodes, it’s pretty bad. However, after that and a few other weak episodes, things ramp up.

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Return of the Tropical Pedo Beams

In a recent post, I made the argument that artistic works should be judged, either morally or artistically, on their own merits and not on the reputation of the artist. reply to a recent post, a reader has made the following comment:

Y’know it’s also worth mentioning the same arguments people make about buying American apply here. For example, you limit your consumption to domestic goods only, you’ll never get a Lamborghini or a Rolex … or in this case Polanski’s Chinatown. How can you limit yourself like that? But I’m sitting here now and thinking about it, and it occurs to me the same problem sets in with both scenarios.

Choose to sacrifice for quality over principle, fast forward a couple decades and what have we got? No wholesome mainstream entertainment, no US manufactured goods, and yet no Lamborghinis or Chinatowns. All of our consumer goods are crappy and made by communists, and all of our books and movies are crappy and made by creeps and pederasts. Meanwhile both the American workers and Christian authors are on unemployment.

Maybe the real problem here is the Darwinism of the almighty dollar.

My initial reaction is to suggest that this is a false analogy. One question is ethical (how are artistic works to be judged?) and the other is economical. In both cases, the average consumer can’t be expected to vet the issues in question. Most people do not pay attention to where there goods come from, and most do not investigate the personal lives of the writers they read or the directors whose movies they watch. Nor am I convinced they should be expected to; indeed, before they days of the internet, such vetting was in many cases difficult if not impossible.

Traditionally, protecting locally manufactured goods has largely been the domain of governments, which have exacted tariffs or limited trade. Dealing with artists’ criminal behavior, like anyone else’s criminal behavior, has usually fallen to the same authority. I’m not convinced this is the wrong way to do things: In the latter case, the alternative is mob justice. In the former, I’m not sure home-grown efforts to buy local make a significant difference in the long run.

I might add, too, that protecting the populace from smut has also traditionally fallen to the government, but only partly. Only gradually did the United States decide that pornography was protected by the First Amendment (which, as written, was clearly not intended for such a purpose). This has been a disaster.

Anime Review: ‘Sailor Moon Super S’

The heartwarming tale of the original Brony.

Sailor Moon Super S, written by Yoji Enokido et al. Directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. Starring Kotono Mitsuishi, Aya Hisakawa, and Michie Tomizawa. Toei Animation (–). 39 episodes of 24 minutes (approx. 936 minutes).

Available from Viz Media.

Sailor Moon Super S, the fourth series of the Sailor Moon anime from the Nineties, is probably the weakest entry in the popular franchise. Built loosely on the “Infinity” arc of the manga, it focuses on Sailor Moon’s daughter from the future, Chibi-Usa. A microcosmic coming-of-age story, this arc is arguably important to Sailor Moon’s overall themes, but that doesn’t prevent it from being uneven—the primary reason for which is probably Chibi-Usa herself, whose presence in Sailor Moon is, even at the best of times, redundant.

Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon finish their transformation sequences.
Chibi-Usa prepares to punish you, redundantly.

Chibi-Usa earned a lot of hate from American viewers back in the Nineties due to the DiC dub. She is more popular in Japan, which is unsurprising given that country’s obsession with cuteness, mascot characters, and little girls. She is simultaneously a sidekick to Sailor Moon and a miniature version of her (she is actually called Sailor Chibi Moon), but although she appears best suited to a peripheral role, she has a habit of upstaging the rest of the cast—and in Super S, she takes over.

This is her arc, like it or not.

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Working

I’m working over here. But tomorrow evening starts my weekend, so I should have a review up for you then.

Happy Sailor Moon’s Birthday

It is the official birthday of Sailor Moon today. As is fitting for such an event, the studio has released a video displaying the transformation sequences of Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon for the upcoming Sailor Moon: Eternal movie, as reported at Sailor Moon News.

Here is the video; the transformation starts about two thirds of the way in. Anyone familiar with Sailor Moon Super S, the series of the original anime that followed the Eternal arc, will notice the influence.

This movie is set to continue the (decidedly troubled) Sailor Moon: Crystal anime series, which sought to follow the manga more closely than the original anime did. Although it had a few innovative ideas (I am one of the few who likes the more developed backstory on the sailor scouts and the four Kings of Heaven), the show was troubled by poor animation and a variety of bad choices. Although a new director and new character designs improved the third series considerably, it still pales in comparison to its predecessor.

I can’t honestly say what I think about the upcoming Eternal movie, though I’ll be interested in seeing it. Super S is generally considered the weakest series of the old anime, so at least the new movie has less to compete with. It seems the production on this film has taken an awfully long time, which means either they’re being meticulous with it or the difficulties of the reboot are continuing.

Also, as I’ll explain later, I have a certain fondness for Super S, though I agree it’s not as good as the series that immediately preceded it. Its most notable feature, oft ridiculed, is a story arc in which a prepubescent girl falls romantically in love with a talking horse. A lot of people think that’s weird or creepy.

I think it’s funny as hell.

Tropical Pedo Beams, or, The Danger of Roman Polanski

I recently came across a thoughtful and challenging essay entitled “Slippery-slopism and False Gods” by Paul Lucas. I will summarize his thinking in order to make my own comments, but I am unlikely to do him justice, so I invite you to read his own words.

The case he makes is that it is morally wrong to consume the art of morally depraved artists both because this gives the artist further financial support to practice his depravity, and because that depravity is almost certainly injected, perhaps in a subtle fashion, into the artist’s work.

That is an extremely brief summary; if you are inclined to dismiss that out of hand, I again urge you to read the original.

Lucas makes his case well, using Roman Polanski as a concrete example. Polanski committed a variety of vile acts, including drugging and raping a thirteen-year-old girl, before he escaped justice. He also regularly got standing ovations and spirited defenses from Hollywood types—the same Hollywood types who would later, hypocritically, throw Harvey Weinstein under the bus when they realized which way the wind was blowing.

Lucas argues that defending the art of a wicked artist leads inevitably to defending the wickedness of the artist himself, hence the “slippery-slopism” in the title of his essay.

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Sneak Peek: ‘Jake and the Dynamo,’ Volume 3

I finished the essays I was working on for a side project, so now I’m back to working on the third volume of Jake and the Dynamo, currently under the working title of  The Shadow of His Shadow. Here’s a foretaste. As always, there is no guarantee that this will be in the final product.

On an added note, I am still waiting to hear back from some publishers to whom I’ve submitted, so I have no updates on possible releases of the previously published volume or its sequel.

At last, these treatments were apparently at an end. The bespectacled goblin sniffed once, made another mark in his ledger, and threw a loose silk robe over Jake’s shoulders. Then the trolls dragged him through yet another dank hallway, finally depositing him in the Bedchamber of Darkness, where he fell to the floor in a heap.

The trolls bowed respectfully before turning, leaving, and shutting the door behind themselves.

Jake raised himself to his knees and blinked against the gloom. He saw a large, four-poster bed atop a pedestal reached by steep stairs. On the walls hung an array of bizarre devices, most of which were unfamiliar to him—but the collection of coiled whips and handcuffs had an obvious purpose, as did the bloodstained rack standing in one corner. Ropes and chains dangled under the canopy above the bed.

He swallowed loudly.

On the bed lay the coldly beautiful woman he had earlier seen in the inner sanctum of the Temple of the Moon Princess. In a filmy dress of glossy black, she had one broad hip exposed, like an imposing hill in the middle of a plain. Her full, blood-red lips were slightly parted, and her round breasts rose and fell with her breath. Her raven-dark hair splayed across an embroidered samite pillow.

Frowning against bruises and stiff muscles, Jake carefully pulled himself to his feet.

Am I … am I about to score with the Dark Queen?

The Queen said not a word. She merely reached out with one shapely yet bone-white hand tipped with sharp nails as red as her lips. She patted the comforter once, twice. At the same time, she raised an arched eyebrow.

Continue reading “Sneak Peek: ‘Jake and the Dynamo,’ Volume 3”

Women and Swords



This particular subject has come to my attention more than once in the last few days. As it happens, I recently submitted an essay for a book on writing (I’ll let you know if my submission is published) on how to create likable and believable “strong female characters.” This expression, “strong female character” gets tossed around a lot these days by people who never clearly define what they mean by it; and the characters presented to us nowadays in comics and film as “strong female characters” seem often catty and unlovable as well as overpowered.

My perennial interest in this topic has led me recently to return to the first two Alien films, which created a memorable and believably tough character in Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, and I’ve also been exploring the original Video Girl Ai and Battle Angel Alita, manga that are now considered “old” according to the short memories of weeaboos, and both of which offer some high-octane feminine ass-kickery.

I’ve recently started watching Shadiversery, a YouTube channel by an Australian sword, history, and RPG enthusiast. The channel is mostly him going on about his subjects of interest, and I’m sure other enthusiasts or qualified experts would disagree with him on points, but he nonetheless appears for the most part to know what he’s talking about, and he offers an array of interesting opinions and factoids. When writing Jake and the Dynamo, I relied on him (and a few other YouTube channels) for the descriptions of Magical Girl Lady Paladin Andalusia’s sword work. Without the miracle of the internet, the descriptions of her sword would have probably been more Hollywood-ish.

Discussion

I’m fond of Shad because he avoids political dogmatism and just discusses his hobbies and interests with honest enthusiasm. Here, he takes on Andrew Klavan, another YouTuber I’ve sometimes appreciated, who sharply criticizes The Witcher for its depiction of women and swords. Shad reasonably breaks down the subject and corrects Klavan’s over-generalizations. Especially, Shad points to actual, real-life European martial-arts competitions that are mixed-sex, and in which women can effectively compete. He admits the disadvantages of reach, strength, speed, and endurance, but also emphasizes that weapons and skill can sometimes overcome these.

He points out something here that also happened to come up in another interaction I had recently: Klavan drastically overestimates the weight of a typical sword. Another acquaintance of mine, the prolific pulp author Ben Cheah, commented that he was reading an isekai series in which a guy who could handle an AK-47 could not lift a sword because it was too heavy. Cheah points out, correctly, that the sword should be considerably lighter than the variable-fire rifle.

Back to the original topic, I notice this issue coming up a lot when I listen to people skilled in martial arts talking about women in combat. Knowledgable as they are, they often get quite rigid on the subject. They correctly point out the physical disadvantages that a woman will almost always have in a fight against a man but tend to ignore other factors like differences in skill or technique—or chance.

Biology

After rebutting Klavan, Shad explains, reasonably, why it was practical, historically, not to have women in combat. He points specifically to biology: Men are naturally more aggressive, women are severely disadvantaged physically when pregnant, women are needed to produce the next generation when the men are off killing each other, and men naturally want to protect women.

Something else I would mention that he doesn’t—females generally fight differently from males, as attested by bar bouncers, soldiers, and anybody who scrapped on the playground as a child. Men create honor codes and fight for pride, and they peacock around before they start beating each other. Women, by contrast, can go from zero to claw-your-eyes-out in under a second. The reason for this may also be rooted in biology: Males establish social rank, either individually or nationally, through combat and dominance. Women, however, fight to protect their lives or their children. That’s why it’s usually the men go to war while the women only fight when the men are all dead.

Edit: As an additional forehead-slapper, someone in the comments on Shad’s video mentions St. Joan of Arc as a real-life warrior woman, so it is worth pointing out that, although St. Joan rode with the troops, she never fought herself and claimed she never personally killed anyone. However, I am made to understand she was a decent strategist who advocated an aggressive use of artillery, but that’s a role quite different from wielding a sword and hacking people.