Star Wars: Ahsoka Tano in the Mandalorian

Screenshot of Rosario Dawson in ‘The Mandalorian’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Studios, Lucas Films, and Disney +.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I haven’t talked much about Star Wars on this blog yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a fan. I love the Star Wars franchise, but no part of the franchise, with a possible exemption for the Original Trilogy, is as important to me as ‘The Clone Wars’. Before we ever saw Rey kicking ass, we saw Ahsoka Tano finally be a main female character to pick up a lightsaber for all of us. I have loved Ahsoka Tano for years now, and I think you could probably already guess that she’s my favorite Star Wars character of all time. So I was absolutely shocked and excited to see that Ahsoka Tano would finally be given the live action treatment and join the larger canon. The casting of Rosario Dawson and the knowledge that Dave Filoni would be writing Ahsoka’s first episode, which would later be revealed to be more or less the pilot to her own spin-off series, made me even more excited. The entire time I was binging The Mandalorian I was annoying my family with my non-stop talk about the inevitable episode. I was fully expecting to cry when I saw her brought to life because I’m an emotional bean. And I came out of the episode thinking it was…fine. I didn’t cry. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it! I just had some serious problems with it. And it has nothing to do with Rosario Dawson who I think acted very well with what she was given. I know a lot of people wanted Ashley Eckstein to play the character, but she’s also very busy and I thought, and still think, that Rosario Dawson would do just as good of a job. My problem mostly had to do with writing, to my complete and utter surprise. But Dave Filoni wrote Ahsoka Tano in the first place! How could he mess it up? Let’s go over why I thought this rendition of Ahsoka Tano didn’t quite work.

“I am no Jedi.”:

This is one of my favorite Ahsoka Tano quotes of all time. For those of you who might be newer to the situation, you should know that Dave Filoni also wrote the cartoon ‘Star Wars Rebels’, which is a show that received largely mixed reviews from fans. No one can really decide whether or not they think it’s good. But one thing that people liked about it was the introduction of Ahsoka Tano as a major player in the final few seasons. She was an older and wiser warrior who was suddenly thrust into helping the main characters deal with Darth Vader. It is in this show that Ahsoka discovers her master, Anakin Skywalker, is now Darth Vader and has turned to the dark side. These episodes are some of the most emotional Star Wars content I’ve ever seen. During a battle with her old master after this realization, Ahsoka attempts to get through to Vader where he retorts that he killed Anakin. Ahsoka then changes her tactic and prepares to fight, saying that she will avenge his death. When Vader tells Ahsoka that this is not the Jedi way, she responds with the line above. It is a chilling and powerful moment. It is also a reminder that Ahsoka no longer ascribes with the way of the Jedi, and really she’s been pretty precise on her status as a non-Jedi both before and especially since. So why does Ahsoka never correct Din every single time he calls her a Jedi and why does she carry herself like one when she isn’t? For much of this episode Ahsoka acts like a stiff Jedi master, which is exactly what Ahsoka didn’t want to be and distanced herself from.

“I cannot train you.”:

Ah, the age old Jedi master saying. A Jedi master has several times found throughout the franchise that a person has too much fear in them and fears what will happen if they give this person training. But here’s the thing, Ahsoka isn’t a Jedi master once again. In fact, Ahsoka left the order in part due to the Jedi council’s lack of trust in her. So why is Ahsoka now pushing those exact views onto a little kid? Did we forget that Ahsoka is just as goofy and playful as she is wise? Ahsoka constantly questioned and rebelled against ideas like that even before she left the council. If the Jedi council thought she had too much emotion in a project they would forbid her to go and she would go anyway. I really never expected this non-Jedi to talk so textbook Jedi council when she never has before and pledged never to again.

The next Darth Vader:

I will give them that they gave Ahsoka an excuse as to why she didn’t want to train little Grogu. She’s afraid that with his fear he’ll end up like her master. This, once again, doesn’t make any sense. Ahsoka, as we saw in Rebels, largely blamed herself for Anakin’s descent into the darkness. She thought that her leaving made him bitter towards the light side. And really, that right there could have been a good excuse. Ahsoka is worried that she fails everyone around her. But that’s not what this is. She’s saying here that she will not train someone who might go to the dark side like Anakin did and blames Grogu’s fear. But Ahsoka knew when she left that Anakin was already struggling, which is why she tells him in Rebels that she won’t leave him again when he’s in need. That’s why she blames herself. Ahsoka and Anakin both knew that the Jedi council was putting too much pressure on Jedi not having emotions and Anakin even expressed the desire to also leave when Ahsoka left. To which she responded with “I know”. There are several reasons that Ahsoka could have had for refusing to train Grogu, but his fear was not a viable one for a non-Jedi.

I love Ahsoka and I love seeing Rosario Dawson in the role, but I wish not all Jedi or ex-Jedi who are not young anymore were treated the same by a writing team. Ahsoka has always had a vibrant personality that, yes, with her trauma might have changed a little bit. But it never would have completely gone from her. Watching Ahsoka here felt a lot like watching Yoda and it really shouldn’t have. Especially because she is no Jedi. Hopefully her spin-off series will be better and we’ll get more of Ahsoka being Ahsoka. And is it too much to also ask for Rex?

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: ‘Kingdom Hearts’ Is Disappointing

Screenshot from the ‘Kingdom Hearts 3’ opening. Copyright goes to Square Enix and Disney.

Hey! Hallie here!

My favorite game growing up was ‘Kingdom Hearts 2’. It was given to my family randomly because we loved Disney and because we had a dusty PS2 that we never used. None of us had played the first ‘Kingdom Hearts’ game. None of us played video games at all. However, it interested me enough that I became the only gamer in my household, and my love of it has fueled a love of video games in general. The current series ended with ‘Kingdom Hearts 3’ back in 2019, with the promise that Square Enix was going to continue the games but leave behind the characters that led the series. Naturally, my excitement led me to play all of the ‘Kingdom Hearts’ games and revisit the series I loved so much. I was disappointed. This isn’t me saying ‘Kingdom Hearts’ is a bad series. Millions of people talking about their excitement for the next ‘Kingdom Hearts’ game despite no official announcements would argue that point. But the series has so many problems that it can’t be considered one of the best things I’ve ever played. I’ve even openly laughed at dramatic scenes, which isn’t necessarily a glowing review. While nostalgia attaches me to these games despite their faults, here are the things that I found disappointing, and sometimes laughable, about the series.

The Dialogue:

This one is a really obvious one. I don’t know about the Japanese dialogue because I have only ever played the English dubs for the games, but the English dialogue is eye-wateringly cringy. None of the characters speak like normal people. Most of the dialogue can’t go two seconds without mentioning “darkness” or “hearts”. At one point, a character watches another character die and proceeds to lament that he doesn’t have anyone else to eat ice cream with. While the line is meant to demonstrate the character’s narrow view of friendship, it’s so absurd that it takes the player out of the scene. It would be one thing if just the dialogue was bad, but most of the voice actors don’t do the dialogue much favors, either. Many of the voice actors have proved to be good actors and voice actors in various other media, which makes the wooden delivery of the dialogue frustrating. Every line is spaced out oddly by every voice actor. Stoic characters sound the same from scene to scene. Excitable characters scream all of their lines. Aqua, who was my favorite character in the series for quite a while, uses the same inflexions for every line, making her emotions difficult to discern. Meanwhile Sora, our main character, is the most over-the-top protagonist I’ve ever encountered in a video game, and it’s because the dialogue and voice actor work together to make every line overly cheesy and loud. This isn’t just a case of cheesy dialogue. It’s disjointed and often hard to understand.

The Plot:

The dialogue deserves some points for confusing the audience, but it’s partly because the plot of the entire series is such a mess. It seems like it would be simple. Final Fantasy-esque characters visit lands based on Disney movies and have fun with the Disney characters. Except Square Enix decided to add an overly complicated plot on top of it that is so convoluted most fans don’t understand it. In the first game Sora somehow absorbs his friend Kairi’s heart when darkness literally starts taking over his hometown, causing her body to disappear. For some reason. Sora realizes that, though this situation has caused him to keep her heart safe, it also is preventing her from returning to her body. So he stabs himself in the heart. He turns into a Heartless, some of the main villains of the game, because the event causes both his heart and Kairi’s to leave his body. Kairi hugs him, though, and he’s magically cured!

Confused yet? Well, the first game does have some confusing parts, but it was somewhat straightforward at least. When humans are consumed by darkness they lose their hearts, becoming Heartless. But the power of hearts can accomplish a lot, which is why several Heartless were after Sora when he had Kairi’s heart. Her heart was strong and, because of that, desirable. Kingdom Hearts 2 is where your brain REALLY starts to hurt. It introduces the idea that people without hearts also develop Nobodies, an alternate version of them without a heart. Except every character we meet who is a Nobody is actually just the original person they were before, just without a heart, like Heartless were in the first game. Except for Sora’s Nobody who is a completely different character from Sora and looks like yet another character Sora has also absorbed. I’m not even going to try to explain that one. And I won’t keep going either because the use of hearts, Nobodies, Heartless, and sometimes even clones becomes so confusing that it’s useless to explain. If they would have continued to develop the rules of the universe they established in the first game, the games might have made more sense. But every game had some new gimmick, leaving the plot almost as useless as if there wasn’t one in the first place.

The Female Characters:

The main female characters in the ‘Kingdom Hearts’ series are a small bunch and none are well handled. Kairi serves as a damsel in distress for the series. The first game is driven by Kairi’s disappearance and the second game sees Kairi captured by several different people. She’s given a keyblade at the end of the second game, but she barely uses it, instead using Riku as a protector. She learns how to use her keyblade at the beginning of the third game, but she barely uses it before she’s taken away again, effectively removing her from all final battles. Namine is, once again, the damsel in distress of her game. She’s also a very brief presence in all games she’s in, either helping Sora or Roxas and then leaving without a trace. The two female characters who get full plots that don’t involve these things are Xion and Aqua. Xion dies to further the character arc of Roxas, and though she does come back, she isn’t in most of the third Kingdom Hearts game. Aqua receives the best treatment. She sacrifices herself for Terra, a male character, but it isn’t to further his plot. If anything it furthers her own and she was given an entire solo game based off of the events that followed. ‘Kingdom Hearts 3’ is what sets her character back. She’s brought to the forefront of the group, as if she will play as big of a role as Sora and Riku, but she is always the first to give up hope and lay down her weapon. Because of this, she ends up in much less of the game than most fans hoped. That, on top of the fact that the amount of main female characters pales in comparison to male main characters (See the two female characters in the Organization XIII plotline consisting of twelve men), isn’t the best look for the female characters in this series.

What kills me about ‘Kingdom Hearts’ are the openings to each game. The openings to every ‘Kingdom Hearts’ game are far superior to any I’ve ever seen. They’re beautiful, and while Disney characters are present, they imply that each game has a very deep meaning. When you get into the games, however, you get cheesy dialogue and a message that sums up to “yay friendship”. This would be okay if the games embraced the Disney silliness you encounter as the main portion of the games. Instead, each game has an extremely confusing plot that attempts to be deep but ends up in the same “friendship” boat as all the other games. As I said before, I’m very nostalgic about this series. I still enjoy playing these games. But a part of me was definitely disappointed when I realized I’d have to turn my brain off to get the most enjoyment out of ‘Kingdom Hearts’.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Cartoons: The Warner Sister Dot

Screenshot of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot from ‘Animaniacs’ (2020). Copyright goes to Warner Brothers.

Hi! It’s Annie!

For most of us we already know the Warner brothers and the Warner sister Dot from Animaniacs. I can definitely say I grew up with these adorably witty cartoon characters which only fueled my love for all of the work done by voice actor Rob Paulson (Not only is he a great Yakko and Pinky, he also voiced Raphael and then Donatello in different iterations of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ as well as PJ from ‘A Goofy Movie’). Despite my love of this show, for some reason I had no idea that there would be a reboot until my family recently got Hulu. I was absolutely delighted. Though Animaniacs doesn’t have some of the bits that I remember, it still had the ones that were most important to me, which were the Warners and Pinky and the Brain. My family laughed through every single episode at the satire that covered everything from reboots, to the presidency, to trying to win Hades. But more than anything else, one specific part of this reboot caught my eye. Ever since the reboot came out, there’s been a bit of controversy surrounding the ever famous Warner sister Dot, who I had pretty early on pinned as my new favorite character of the show. It didn’t take me long to realize why.

“They made her a radical feminist!”:

I was doing research to see what exactly had changed between the original depiction of Dot and the current one when I stumbled on negative reviews for the 2020 reboot. Many of them with this tagline. I can’t say that I was surprised. Dot has always been a present force among the Warners, but she didn’t reference what it was like to be a woman all that much in the original cartoons. She followed after handsome men with heart eyes and was just as wacky as Yakko and Wakko, but Dot never questioned why she was the only woman there most of the time other than Hello Nurse. And I’m not sure I would have expected her to at that time. Dot has come back in 2020 with powerful punches to draw attention to what she hadn’t so much before. Dot is given a few major moments throughout the season that draw specific attention to women, but it’s still done in ways that make sense for kids, and I’m not exactly sure what makes her “radical” or what that’s supposed to mean in the first place. Anyways, let’s go over these moments from the recent show.

The First Ladies:

This song definitely has the accomplishments of women in the forefront, but this happens specifically because Dot uses the segment to teach viewers about the all of the first ladies to have been in the White House. Many critiques of the show argued that Dot painted them all in a good light and that the writers glossed over many of the bad things some of them did, like the war on drugs and the consequences due to that for example. This argument seems a bit on the ridiculous side to me simply because the song is cut for time. That’s a running joke throughout the song. Dot is attempting to teach the audience about every single first lady to ever exist in just about two minutes while her brothers time her. She’s not there to discuss the ramifications of some of their actions. She there to quickly educate on what some of them have done. She doesn’t even get to all of them as at the end of the song she begins to shout out names of first ladies since she doesn’t have time for the history by that point. The writers even accidentally forgot a first lady and wrote in an apology afterwards. She’s also there to satirize. Which didn’t just start in 2020. As Rob Paulson himself has pointed out, Animaniacs has always satirized current politics and it wouldn’t be the same without it. I’m not quite sure what the controversy around this extremely fast song that even manages to poke fun at some of the first ladies has to do with Dot being radical. It’s history.

Mathterpiece theatre:

In Dot’s hilarious rendition of Masterpiece Theatre that is now based off of the math problems you grew up solving, a mother struggles to feed her children. She has five apples, she loses two, how many does she have left? You get the picture. The complaints against this specific short seem to be the simple fact that Dot is telling the story of a rebellious woman running away from a police officer. Yep, that’s pretty much it. I’m not sure why people are angry over Dot telling a comedically serious story about a woman, but I digress.

“Never mansplainy”:

The Animaniacs theme song is iconic and a well appreciated ear worm. I have been known to get the theme song stuck in my head from time to time. One of the unique parts of the theme song is that one of the ending lines changes every episode. At the beginning of one of the 2020 reboot’s episodes this line right before the end of the songs depicts Dot slamming her hands over Yakko and Wakko’s mouths and proclaiming that the Animaniacs would never try to mansplain. Mansplain is a term that has become common because of the trend women have seen in the workplace (and otherwise) for decades where a woman is either interrupted and a man tries to explain her problem instead, or she’s just plain and simple treated like she’s stupid. It’s not a term meant to offend you, it’s a term that was created to bring awareness to the issue and it’s popularization has aided in this problem. Isn’t it a good thing that women aren’t belittled or interrupted? So why is this line so triggering for some people?

Manspreading:

In one of my favorite ending skits of the new season, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot are sitting at a movie theater when Dot’s space is largely intruded on by a man sitting next to her manspreading. Yakko tries to explain to Dot what manspreading is and she declares that she doesn’t need him to mansplain manspreading to her. They then spend the rest of the episode trying to manipulate the theater around them so that they can close his legs. I think a lot of people are just under the impression that this problem doesn’t exist, but one of the reasons why I laughed so much was because I had experienced it before. Really, all this is telling you is that you should remember to be conscientious of the people around you. That’s it.

Suffragette:

It is the hundredth anniversary of women getting the right to vote and Dot, of course, has to talk about it! The women’s rights movement wasn’t all good and nice historically as many of the women praised for gaining us the right to vote also thought that white people should be the only ones to vote. But just like the first lady skit, we shouldn’t expect one skit in a thirty minute cartoon to cover the entire history of this event, even though that would be great. I would love to see Dot teach history. But even though that’s at least a reasonable critique, what most people had a problem with in this part of the show was Businesswoman Dot refusing to see anyone she had a meeting with if he was a man but also requested that they send any woman in. People seem to ignore the fact that she said this because it was “perfect timing”. She wasn’t refusing to work with men, she was saying that she was talking about women’s rights regardless of whether or not she had a meeting. This entire skit ended with cartoons getting the right to vote, which I would let Dot vote in any election.

Dot is talking about women’s rights and that’s a good thing! We obviously still need to talk about it with these reviews coming out. And she should probably be given more time to talk about women, anyways! We’ve told the stories of men for so long that I really don’t understand what the issue is in telling the stories of women. Whether it’s the very very brief history of our first ladies, the history of us getting our rights, or a fictionalized story about a woman living in poverty losing two apples so that a cartoon character can solve a math problem. Yes, Dot is feminist. But most women are feminist and it really bugs me that anyone could see that as something that isn’t good. Dot, and skits like hers in other shows, are not there to diminish the experience of men. This isn’t about you. They are there to tell the stories of millions of women who have not been allowed to tell our stories for years. Listen to them and know that this doesn’t have to be about you.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: What Disneyland Did Wrong with Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora

Promotional photo of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for the Disney Parks Blog. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

One of the things I’ve missed the most in lockdown is being able to go to theme parks. I love the immersive feel of most theme parks, Disneyland included. But Disneyland has been slipping up with a few of their attempts at more immersive areas. The popularity of “lands” made to fully immerse guests became a theme park trend with the popularity of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Before the Wizarding World, most theme parks stuck with vaguely decorated areas that did transport guests, but not necessarily to anywhere specific. But the specifics proved to be more immersive, and more desired, than what theme parks were already doing. Because of Universal Studios’ growing popularity over the Wizarding World, Disney made their own attempts at creating their own deeply immersive spaces. But their attempts haven’t been that great. And with Universal Studios Tokyo releasing footage of their new Super Nintendo Land, it seems Disney is still far behind in this area. So what went wrong?

Pandora:

To start this out we’re going to look into Disney’s first attempt at a Wizarding World equivalent, the world of Pandora based off of James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ movie. The area is beautiful, but it isn’t anywhere near the level of what Universal Studios created. Unsurprisingly, it’s also less popular. It’s first problem is that it’s based off of ‘Avatar’. The movie came out eight years before the opening of the land. By that time most people hadn’t thought about the movie in a while. The majority of Disney Parks fans scratched their heads at this decision. While some ‘Avatar’ fans were still around, most of the general public didn’t even remember the names of the main characters. Unlike Harry Potter, there wasn’t a high demand for really anything that had to do with ‘Avatar’. However, the world of Pandora has always been beautiful. So it wasn’t a surprise when Pandora opened and became one of the most gorgeous parts of Animal Kingdom park.

But then it hit it’s second issue. While Imagineers took major inspiration from the movie, as shown by some of the floating islands you can see in the park, none of it is specifically from the movie. There are references to the movie. Some buildings and decorations look exactly like they came out of the movie. But Pandora is small and disconnected. It doesn’t feel immersive because it doesn’t feel like one place inside of ‘Avatar’, but rather, many places at once. Which is similar to what Disney has done with their parks in the past. Disney is good at creating new areas with fun decorations for fans to notice. But that isn’t really the way to create an immersive land. In order for an area to be immersive it has to look like it came exactly out of the movie. Pandora couldn’t commit enough to being one location to have the details it needed to convince guests they’re walking into a different world. And it doesn’t help when some of your details are glow-in-the-dark additions to the sidewalks that get swept away by Florida rains.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge:

Galaxy’s Edge quite famously fell flat on it’s face when it opened in Disneyland. Disney spent it’s months up until the grand opening of the land telling guests they shouldn’t come because it was going to be too busy. So, naturally, most people listened to them. Disneyland received far less guests than they expected when Galaxy’s Edge opened. When guests actually started visiting, however, most were pretty pleased. It took a few more hints from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It gave guests the opportunity to create their own lightsabers, it committed to one area so that details were more easily added to the space, and Walt Disney World even promised a LARP hotel that would connect directly to Galaxy’s Edge. Super Nintendo World’s design makes Galaxy’s Edge look much less immersive, and that’s because Disney still didn’t listen to what the fans wanted.

Disney’s major problem with Galaxy’s Edge is Batuu. Batuu is the planet they claim each Star Wars land is. It isn’t a planet featured in any Star Wars content aside from some short things they released right before Galaxy’s Edge’s opening. What fans want is a place similar, or even exactly like, what they’ve seen in the movies. That familiarity will make details seem much more impressive, and will make fans feel much more immersed. Disney decided to create their own planet so they didn’t have to worry about re-creating anything, with the excuse that the characters of Star Wars travel to new planets every movie. And while that’s true, there’s a reason why Star Wars fans freak out more when Tatooine shows up in ‘The Mandalorian’ as opposed to a new planet. It’s nostalgic and familiar. Most fans would rather have a real-life Tatooine to walk through than Batuu. On top of that, Batuu is kind of disappointing. When Disney initially spoke about their plans for Galaxy’s Edge, they said they planned each land to be a different planet. Disneyland’s was going to be Batuu and Walt Disney World’s would be an entirely new experience. But somewhere down the line that failed and Disney ultimately didn’t deliver. Both lands are Batuu now, and Walt Disney World doesn’t even have their LARP hotel ready. While it’s amazing to see the Millennium Falcon in person, it’s really one of the only compelling things on Batuu for fans to admire.

What is Universal Studios doing right?

Universal Studios is giving fans what they want. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley in real life. Down to each detail. There are even store fronts you can’t walk into, but will reference a small event or detail in the books and movies that will make everything seem more real. On top of that, wands are much easier to afford than lightsabers and they interact with the world around them. A wand can choose you at Ollivander’s, and then you can head over to a chimney to wave your wand and watch fire explode out of the top. Super Nintendo World is the same. You can use wristbands to collect coins and interact with various parts of the park. And while they had to take some liberties with Mario’s world, everything feels like one land. You get from place to place through green pipes, Peach’s castle and Bowser’s castle are almost exactly like what you remember from the games, and the whole area is surrounded by creatures moving around and interacting with each other. Somehow, even though Mario’s world has been changed from game to game and is mostly seen from a side view, Super Nintendo World feels both immersive and nostalgic. Disney should take notes.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Yoongi’s Back!

Screenshot of Min Yoongi (SUGA) in his music video for ‘Agust D’.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Yesterday was the BigHit News Year’s Eve Live event on Weverse which, of course, involved BTS. Earlier this week we also learned through Yoongi’s Vlive (Hilariously titled ‘I can’t believe they made me a snowman’) that he would be attending this event and that he wouldn’t be taking part in the performances. Personally, I didn’t care that he wouldn’t be performing, I was just happy that he was going to be there in the first place! I love all of them but I am a Yoongi bias and I have definitely missed him! So watching the performances and the appearance of BTS on the New Year’s Eve live event was beyond amazing. Not only did Yoongi appear, he also performed two songs with everyone. Of course, he’s not completely healed so it was only the music choices that did not involve dancing. They performed both of these songs while sitting down in chairs, which is why Yoongi could perform at all. It was really more than I was expecting and more than I could have hoped for. Listening to them perform ‘Life Goes On’ with the addition of Yoongi sitting there with them made me emotional just because we’ve heard them perform it so many times without him that it felt that much more special to hear him sing his verse. But just because he’s back doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything other than heal while he was away! Let’s look into some of my favorite things Yoongi did while he was off!

Addressing toxic masculinity: In an interview with Esquire not long after he had gotten his surgery, he touched on toxic masculinity by saying that society’s view of masculinity was skewed anyways. He spoke about how many people think that masculinity consists of specific emotions or other elements when none of that makes any sense and questioned what masculinity was supposed to mean in the first place. Yoongi has been known to take opinions like this before. On one of his Vlive streams he was asked why BTS wore so much makeup and then told that he and the other members of BTS looked like girls. He responded very frankly by saying that he didn’t listen to the words of haters and that this issue was more of the commenter’s problem than a BTS problem. BTS even ended up doing an entire photoshoot in skirts. Yoongi has never been shy about questioning societal norms, such as all of the times he has both hilariously and rightly questioned the pressure on children from the school system, and we all love him for it. The fact that he’s talking about toxic masculinity makes me nothing short of happy and incredibly proud.

Addressing mental health stigma: In the same interview with Esquire he noted how mental health and physical health are treated differently by society when they shouldn’t be. When someone is suffering from physical health issues no one would call that person weak, but this often changes when someone is suffering from mental health issues. He ended this by stating that society needed to be more understanding when it comes to mental health issues. This is another topic that Yoongi has never shied away from, and neither has Namjoon who has also talked about his past mental health issues. Yoongi once stated that he wanted people’s view of mental health to be less stigmatized and more like a view of the common cold so that society could more easily accept those who are suffering from issues regarding mental health. Yoongi’s words are more real than ever during this time where more people than ever are grappling with mental health because of the pandemic. He is proof that none of us are ever alone.

Answering questions on Vlive hilariously: On a more lighthearted note, on his most recent livestream on Vlive, Yoongi played a rather weird version of would you rather. It was weird mostly because of questions that the fans asked him. One such question was whether straws had one hole versus two holes to which he responded that he wasn’t sure why it mattered. He eventually noted that if you see it as one then it’s one and if you see it as two then it’s two as long as there’s not three. Even though you couldn’t see him in his current livestream because it was voice only, you could hear the amusement in his voice and that just made everything better.

Fake Yoongi: Though Yoongi may have stayed at home, BTS made sure to take cardboard Yoongi with them wherever they went. A couple times his outfit in the carboard piece was hilariously mismatched to everyone else’s and other times the boys kind of destroyed it (like when they poured wine over it); but it was there! And then of course there was the famous Yoongi snowman, which was both adorable and hilarious. Yoongi certainly seemed to think it was funny and I definitely laughed when I first saw it. Though CGI Yoongi was pretty cool, I definitely think that Snowman Yoongi has my heart here.

Of course, this is just some of the stuff that we’ve seen. Yoongi has also been improving his English on his break as well as, of course, extensive physical therapy. But he seems to be doing well! We’re also talking about the guy who laughed on the way to the hospital because he couldn’t believe he was in so much pain. I look forward to everything that Yoongi can do now but we all should also respect that he should still be healing and resting. We can’t expect him to do everything all at once. But I’m so glad to see him do anything! For those of you who are waiting for the non-BTS posts, I promise my next post will not be about BTS. Though I do love talking about them and could talk about them forever. Happy New Year!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-pop and K-dramas: The Jimin Conversation

Official photoshoot image of Park Jimin from BTS. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

Spring boarding right off of Taehyung’s birthday, anyone who has a Weverse account got a pretty startling notification. BigHit released an announcement informing everyone that several accounts were being taken down for false claims and hateful harassment directed toward the BTS members. There was even mention of legal action being taken towards some of the largest offenders. I wasn’t certain what the entire issue was about. I’m not often on Weverse or Twitter, so I wasn’t really aware of any harassment at all. More information came out this morning, mostly delivered by fans, somewhat explaining the situation. Evidently some haters were attacking Jimin for a past health issue and threatening him with some pretty horrific things. That along with spreading rumors and generally being jerks. Of course, the fan base is incredibly angry at these individuals. Who wouldn’t be? But there are also some things that the fan base is doing that aren’t so helpful right now, and we need to talk about it.

  1. We need to stop assuming the comments made about Jimin are the main reason for BigHit’s announcement. BigHit hasn’t clarified what exactly the announcement is responding to, or even that it’s responding to attacks made on Jimin alone. While hate comments directed at Jimin have surged, they have surged randomly for all members throughout the years. The truth is we don’t know anything about this situation aside from the fact that people have been nasty to Jimin recently. So yes, remind him that he is loved. Because he is so, so, loved. But also keep in mind that we are in the dark about a lot of this and we shouldn’t spread fan information as fact without knowing the whole story first.
  1. We need to stop assuming what Jimin’s mental health is currently like. We don’t know Jimin. We aren’t his friends. We aren’t his family. Most of us have never even met the guy. We appreciate him. Of course we do. But we have no right to assume where he is emotionally right now. We don’t know if he’s even read these mean comments or if they’ve affected him at all. So if you’re one of those people who has been alluding that Jimin might be considering doing something drastic. Stop it. Immediately. Not only are you potentially triggering other people, but you have no right to assume that Jimin is currently dealing with that depression. That information is personal information. So, once again, remind Jimin that you love him. But don’t attempt to guilt people into feeling sorry for him because of an assumption you’ve made about his mental health. Simply give him the love he deserves.
  1. We need to realize this isn’t the first or the last time that any of the boys will receive hate. Each member has received so much hate. From random controversies, to rumors about who they might be dating, to attacking members with past mistakes, haters have been present for their entire careers. We’ve even talked about the ‘But Namjoon’ controversy on this blog. Most, if not all of the time, this hate in undeserved. But it’s also expected. They’re a very huge presence in the public eye, and for some reason, a lot of people have a lot of hate to give. That doesn’t mean that these comments are ok. But it does mean that we can’t assume something bad is going to happen to the member that receives hate every single time these comments get a little louder. There are plenty more people who are ready to drown out the bad comments with some very lovely messages. That’s what we’re all doing right now, in fact.
  1. We need to realize that the best thing we can do right now is send Jimin love. Stop attacking haters. You can attempt to educate people if you want, but many are just trolls you shouldn’t waste time on. Stop trying to spread incomplete information. We don’t know much right now. Stop using a catastrophic thought you’ve had about the situation to guilt people into feeling bad about the situation. That’s more often triggering than helpful. Just send Jimin some love. Talk about how cute his smile is. Talk about how nice he is to the fans. Talk about how beautiful his voice is. Talk about how important he is to BTS. He, just like all of the boys, deserves that love every day. So show him just how amazing he is and drown out the mean stuff.

I think it’s pretty obvious that I didn’t want to dive too deep into what exactly is being said right now because I don’t think it helps. This is simply a reminder that there are better ways to use our energy in situations like this. For example, today is the anniversary of the first song Jimin composed himself, “Promise”. It’s a song that is very personal to himself that addresses some of the issues he was having with his mental health at the time. It’s beautiful and something most people can relate to. So let’s appreciate that he shared something so personal with us. It deserves love and attention today and Jimin deserves to be acknowledged for such an accomplishment. Jimin is an amazing musician with a big heart. ARMY should focus on that today above all else.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-pop and K-dramas: Happy Birthday Taehyung!

Official photoshoot image of Kim Taehyung (V) of BTS. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

This is the special Tuesday post I was talking about! Obviously, I had to continue my birthday posts for the boys with Tae! He’s our beloved sass master and absolute king of duality. I was recently watching BTS’s ‘Love Yourself: Speak Yourself’ Tour in Wembley and to say that he turned heads during this concert would be a massive understatement. He absolutely murdered everyone in the arena when he performed ‘Singularity’. It was insane. Also, I don’t think there’s a single ARMY that doesn’t have his verse from ‘Jump’ playing in their heads 24/7. Once you hear it the first time, there’s no going back. He’s also our good boy, so there’s the duality I was talking about. Tae has recently skyrocketed in popularity and is possibly the most popular BTS member internationally, which would sound insane but absolutely makes sense for this unique and loveable soul. Also, can we talk about how amazing Tae is at being a spy in Run BTS? I always think I should suspect him because it’s always him and then he convinces me otherwise only for me to find out at the end that it was, in fact, him. Anyways, just like always, I’m going to take a look at just a few of his solo projects and try to find some rhyme or reason in ranking because I love them all so much. (He’s also coming out with a mixtape soon by the way, so there will be much more to come.) Let’s get into it!

4. Stigma

Tae’s voice has always been calming to me. There’s just something so beautiful about his voice and soft in his tone that makes me instantly feel my anxiety slipping away when I hear him sing. (Which is a feat in itself.) Often times I’ll discuss the meaning of specific songs, but I wouldn’t really want to discuss the meaning or even what I might the think the meaning for this song is. Namjoon said in an interview that the song was incredibly personal to Tae and that if Tae wanted to explain the song he should do it himself. I’m going to take this same stance. Stigma hooks you from the very first notes and is one of those songs that will get stuck in your head. But not annoyingly. It’s just incredibly catchy and incredibly calming at the same time. The solo songs from the ‘Wings’ album really do hit hard and this one is no exception.

3. Inner Child

I cried when I watched him perform this for the ‘Map of the Soul: One’ concert. The presence of the little boy and the playfulness and conviction in which Tae sang this made this one of the most emotional numbers in the entire concert. In the song, Tae reflects on hardships he went through in his life and also the hope that he always had that things would be better. The hope in this song is what stood out to me. Especially now, messages of hope or feeling hope in the past are a necessity and it hits right in the heart guts. Tae also has such child-like wonder just in the vocals of the song. His triumphs and the hope that always followed him is infectious. This has the feeling of a song that could change the world, and that’s not just because of the lyrics. It’s still pretty difficult for me to listen to this song and not get at least a little emotional. It’s a song that reminds you to give yourself comfort and to reach out to your own inner child.

2. Singularity

I have to say that I’m a little biased towards this song. I know that when this song came out most people felt that it was sexy, and I guess you could say that. I can see it. But that was definitely not what this song was for me when it first came out. It was before I even joined ARMY and I saw this music video on the recommended page on Youtube. At the time I was dealing with overwhelming anxiety and I was looking for a distraction when I clicked onto this song and experienced an instant sense of calm. I used this song for the sake of calming myself down in several instances afterwards and it never failed to make me feel better. Sometimes I still use it for that purpose. Now, watching Tae perform this song is a completely different experience I will admit. But I will always have a special place in my heart for this song. Never has Tae’s voice been this calming. This mostly recounts the deterioration of some kind of relationship and captures that sadness while still maintaining an amazing strength. It’s still one of my favorite solo BTS songs.

1. Winter Bear

This is the song that we’ve all come to associate with Tae. He’s become our winter bear. This song just exudes everything Tae. It has his soft and calming vocals as well as a message of comfort and love for ARMY that could only come from Tae. You can really feel how much he loves, not just us but in general, through this song. It’s gentle and kind and listening to it makes you feel like Tae is right in the room with you, listening to you and offering you comfort. It’s legitimately one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard and now I’ve come to use this song as comfort just as much as ‘Singularity’. That’s something I never thought would happen. It’s just a reminder that when these boys say they love us, they aren’t lying. It’s absolutely amazing to have this love that goes so strongly both ways between BTS and ARMY.

Seriously, every time I write one of these posts I fall a little bit more in love with these boys. I don’t ever think that it’s possible, but it always is somehow. I’m so glad to be an ARMY finally after a solid year of listening to them before declaring myself one. It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I cannot stress this enough, if you are still thinking about listening to BTS, just do it. I know the amount of content can look intimidating, that was definitely one of the reasons why I didn’t listen to them immediately. But it’s more than worth it. Believe me, it will take over part of your life, but it’s totally worth it. Just be ready to fall in love with all seven of them over and over and over again. Happy birthday Taehyung! Thank you for loving us all so much!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: Games to Play When It’s Raining

GIF of a farm in ‘Stardew Valley’ during a rainy day. Copyright goes to ConcernedApe.

Hey! Hallie here!

The winter season is bringing a lot of rain to my house right now, which happens to be my favorite type of weather. I love relaxing indoors while it’s raining. Usually that means I’m reading some kind of book, but there are several video games that fit the perfect, relaxing, gloomy vibe I enjoy when I hear rain outside. This is my list of games that you should play when you’re in the rainy mood. To be clear, these aren’t games meant to make you forget that it’s raining outside. These games are meant to be relaxing while keeping the ambiance cool and gloomy. In short, the perfect games to help you lean into the weather. Let’s get into it!

‘Undertale’:

This game has a nice, relaxing feel to it for most of the game. However, the reason why I bring it up is specifically the section of the underground called Waterfall. Waterfall is a very wet, marshy place with a lot of nice ambiance. It has a slow soundtrack complete with light piano notes that sound like rainfall. The level is decorated with dark blue and purple scenery as well as plenty of beautiful waterfalls and rivers. There are even several sections where it’s pouring rain and your character is given the choice of picking up an umbrella. One of my favorite pieces of the level is a completely dark room where you must find the lanterns hidden on the walkways to help light your path. Waterfall has some of the best rain ambiance I’ve seen in any game. And if you get sick of it, there’s a hidden pathway to Temmie Village. I should prewarn you, though, that Temmie Village is the opposite of relaxing.

‘Stardew Valley’:

‘Stardew Valley’ is even more relaxing than ‘Undertale’. Where ‘Undertale’ manages to give you plenty of puzzles in between fights, and isn’t prone to stress you out (Unless you’re playing the genocide route of course), ‘Stardew Valley’ doesn’t have any of that at all. It’s simply a farming game where your priorities are to take care of your farm and make some friends. This game gets especially relaxing, though, when rainy season comes in. Rain happens the most during Spring and Fall, but sometimes it will just come out of nowhere for you to enjoy. The rain isn’t just relaxing, it also means that you don’t have to water your crops for the day. You can go about your business, visit your friend’s warm homes, and enjoy a day off from one of your daily chores. And it makes everything on your farm look gorgeous.

‘Animal Crossing’:

This really goes for any ‘Animal Crossing’ game. Once again, you will only come across the rainy segments of this game once in a while and most often during Spring and Fall. But when it does rain, it’s so adorable. Nearly every villager will be unreasonably excited by the rain. You’ll even see a few out with their umbrellas. The rain waters your flowers and provides the only time where some rare items can be found. Plus, if you’ve never been able to catch the inside of one of your villagers homes because they like the outdoors, you’re way more likely to be able to see it in this weather. If you’re lucky, you might even catch a full thunderstorm. But this game isn’t just relaxing when you’re experiencing it’s rainy weather. There’s a ton of things to do in your village and all of them are relaxing. You can get to know your adorable villagers, customize your village or island, and go shopping for new items for yourself or your home. ‘Animal Crossing’ is relaxing to play anytime, but the rain only makes it better.

‘Assassins Creed: Syndicate’:

This game takes place in London, so of course it’s going to be raining seventy percent of the time. Exploring the rooftops of tall, gorgeous, Victorian buildings while seeking out a new adventure is always fun. What’s nice about this game, though, is it has a very action packed storyline with a pretty relaxed open world. It gives you a map between all of it’s major locations so you can pick what you want to do. Of course, some of that will include assassinating people. But each mission you attempt can be easily left with little to no consequences. Meaning if your assassination starts to go wrong, or if you simply walked into the wrong area without meaning to, you can leave. The entire area that can be explored is large but well connected, so it doesn’t take too much effort to move from place to place. Plus, the game provides you with your own cozy train that is constantly moving around the map to help you get where you need to go faster. And, on top of all that, no suddenly appearing enemies. Enemies will only appear in areas where missions take place, aside from a rare few that will leave you alone when you upgrade your reputation. I enjoy not having to worry about fighting a mass of people when all I want to do is explore.

‘Persona 5’:

This game, surprisingly, has some of the best rainy day necessities. Rain is one of the common weathers you’ll encounter in the game, but before you even see rain the game has you living above a café. There’s no better feeling than loading up a ‘Persona 5’ save on a gloomy day and finding yourself inside a warm café to enjoy it all. The game also has a jazz-based soundtrack that’s both relaxing and enjoyable. During in-game rainy days you’ll get some bonuses in Mementos if seeking out some action is your style. If it isn’t, there’s plenty to explore in it’s regular-world map without stress. You can get to know your friends better, go shopping, or watch a movie. Some locations are blocked off when it’s raining. After all, you won’t want to go to an amusement park while all the rides are closed. But you can still take your date to a restaurant or on a large Ferris wheel where you’ll still see the rain hitting the windows of the ride. This game doesn’t have randomly generated enemies in these areas either, so no need to worry about something sneaking up on you while you’re exploring.

That’s my list! These are only games that I’ve played so I’m sure there are plenty more to enjoy on whatever game console you own. Some of the games on this list are definitely surprising suggestions for a relaxing time, but don’t write them off. There are so many games with relaxing segments that can be enjoyed just as much as their action-packed storylines. You’d be surprised how many games take advantage of foul weather to give players a cozy environment to explore. Whether you prioritize fighting enemies or casually exploring your environment, I hope you found something on this list to play during all this rain.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Twins in Media: The Tweedles vs Thing 1 and Thing 2

Screenshot from ‘The Cat in the Hat’ (2003) starring (from left) Danielle Ryan, Mike Myers, and Brittany Oakes. Copyright goes to Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I know this is early, but as I am planning a different post for Tuesday, I thought it would be best to be a little early. This week for twins in media, we’re going to take a look at the twins from classic literature that, if you’ve read our previous posts about them, are pretty bad at showing audiences what twins are really like. Unfortunately, these two portrayals were the most popular portrayals of twins for a long time, resulting in many pairs of twins being called Thing 1 and Thing 2 or Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee. While these are both bad portrayals, I’m here to decide which one is the most harmful. So, let’s get into it!

Tropes:

The Tweedles: As both of these sets of twins in media have started many of the twin tropes still used, it’s not a surprise that there are so many to choose from here. The Tweedles are incredibly synchronistic. When they aren’t saying the exact same things at the exact same time, they are finishing each other’s sentences instead. They also suffer from a trope that is worlds more harmful; the ever-dreaded Circus Freaks trope. This comes from the idea that twins are somehow not natural and that they are something to be ogled. Just looking at the Tweedles, it doesn’t take long to realize that they are placed in a world where everything is weird and there’s not much weird about them other than their aggressiveness. That’s because their existence as twins is supposed to be weird for some reason. Twins do not have a supernatural connection and the birth of twins is pretty common so I have no idea why people seem to be so quick in labeling all of us as an odd phenomenon. We are actual human beings who are different from each other. We are not some sort of freaks to be ogled.

The Things: In a world of humans, the Things aren’t even written to be human. They’re…well…Things. Which makes it really nice when someone inevitably refers to myself and my sister as Thing 1 and Thing 2. Obviously, they mean it all in good fun, but it still always reminds me how much this ridiculous portrayal of twins has effected the way everyone sees twins in general. They speak at the same time, they do the exact same things, and they are a perfect example of the mischievous twins trope. All they really do is create lots of chaos and then clean it up afterwards…sometimes. They aren’t even really people, so I don’t know if I should be offended or if they even count as being twins at all. Anyways…

Winner: The Things. Though these two have unfortunately been the pair of twins that my sister and I (and probably every pair of twins) are compared to the most, they aren’t nearly as harmful as the Circus Freaks trope. I personally think that Dr. Seuss didn’t necessarily mean for them to represent twins and that part of it actually came from misguided adults, but I digress.

Differences and Similarities:

The Tweedles: Hahahahahahaha. This one’s funny. Um…there are no differences, it’s pretty much the exact same character twice. Wonderful, huh? Maybe it’s lazy writing.

The Things: Same as above.

Winner: Tie. Both of these are the exact same character twice and there’s really not much else to say. Media has always been obsessed with inextricably connecting twins to the point where they are either the exact same or the exact opposite. It’s also convenient for them because it means less time writing actual characters. Like any human beings who grew up together, we have some similarities and some differences. Even in the way that we look, despite what people think. Portraying us as the exact same person twice is what causes idiots to think that it’s ok and totally monogamous to have the idea of dating both of us. It stems from this old idea that it was totally ok and monogamous to date two girls in general at the same time (Hence the old phrase “Two girls for every boy”), and people still cling to this idea in the form of twin fetishization. Again, I repeat, we are NOT the same person. We’ve never even liked the same guy. If you’ve ever had that thought at all, please both check yourself and also leave here with the knowledge that it’s a stupid and absolutely archaic thought that stems from female fetishization as a whole. In other words, you’re wrong.

Relationship:

The Tweedles: They’re close I guess. They’re always together. And they have the exact same relationships with other people because they are, again, the same character twice. They basically operate under a hive mind.

The Things: Again, they must have a good relationship because they do everything together. Just like the ones above, these are more like exact clones than they are twins. They have the same relationship with Cat and there’s no difference in their other relationships either. Another hive mind.

Winner: Tie. Both of these sets of twins are treated the same in their stories. They are the same character twice who do the exact same things at the exact same time. I wish I could say that they had complex relationships, but they don’t. Because for the longest time, twins were written to be fun, weird, things rather than actually complex human beings. Sometimes we’re still being written like that. And it has resulted in my sister and I being treated like fun and weird things rather than complex human beings by actual people in real life.

Plot:

The Tweedles: The Tweedles have the exact same plot as they are always together. Sometimes they’ll trap Alice and tell her a story, while other times they’ll both offer to slay the Jabberwocky with the Vorpal Sword. At least they weren’t counted as the same offer, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that they both still do the exact same things in the plot. At least they are given a little more in the plot.

The Things: They, again, do the exact same things in the plot. But, admittedly, they are given much less time. They appear to mess things up and then appear again to clean up their mess after everything’s all settled with the kids. They have no voices.

Winner: The Tweedles. At least they speak and have a plot. While the Things are characters on their own that are meant to be fun rather than weird, which is an upgrade from the Tweedles, they are given much less plot overall than the Tweedles.

Final Result:

There were two ties and they each won once, so I have every reason to proclaim this a tie. But I can’t do that and thinking about it, I’m not sure it’s as much of a tie for me personally. The Things take this. The Things are infinitely less problematic characters than the Tweedles and are at least portrayed in a good light. Not to mention that they are not explicitly twins and most of the horrible comparisons come from people who compare twins to these characters. They are still bad, but it’s the people who ask us which one is Thing 1 and which one is Thing 2 like it’s an actual legitimate question that make this portrayal the most unbearable. Even though the Things aren’t human and the Tweedles are, it’s the Tweedles that are treated like something weird. The Cat in the Hat book views the Things as being just as natural as the Cat, whose presence is never really questioned too much in the book. The Tweedles are consistently pointed at as a laughing stock or a weird circus act. They are dumb and they fall all over each other. At least the Things are depicted as being smart. The Things aren’t great, but the Tweedles are the most harmful literary depiction of twins I have ever seen in my life. Hopefully, writers who write twins in the future will see them as a mistake rather than something to be copied. And that kind of goes for the Things too.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Studio Ghibli: Characters That Deserve More Love Part 2

Screenshot from ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’ (1984). Copyright goes to Topcraft and Studio Ghibli.

Hey! Hallie here!

I pretty much always have Studio Ghibli on my mind, so let’s continue this series! I’m focusing specifically on characters that I don’t see talked about. Bonus points for characters who don’t get any merch at all. The majority of movies I’ll be referencing this time around are also underrated. Unlike ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ or ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’, they aren’t as commonly enjoyed or brought up. But, as usual, every single movie referenced here is one that I highly recommend watching. There will be some light spoilers ahead. Let’s get into it!

  • Pazu. Pazu is one of the protagonists in ‘Castle in the Sky’. This movie is the first movie to be released under the name Studio Ghibli. Because of it’s age, it doesn’t seem to be as recognized as many other Studio Ghibli films. In my opinion, this is among the best of Studio Ghibli’s films and Pazu is one of the best male leads I’ve seen in any animated movie. Pazu is an orphan who lost his father when he was young. His father was looking for Laputa, a large castle floating in the sky, when he died. Because of this, Pazu has vowed to find Laputa and prove that his father’s claims of its existence were correct. However, he doesn’t have much money or resources, meaning he spends most of his time helping the miners that live in his small town. During one job he sees Sheeta floating down from the sky by her glowing necklace. From that moment on he resolves to help her. He gives her shelter for the night and immediately lends her his clothing so she can hide once he discovers she’s on the run. Anytime she attempts to tell him that helping her will be too dangerous for him, he refuses to leave her side. He offers Sheeta both comfort and emotional support, but he also trusts her to take care of herself. On top of all of that, he doesn’t have any explicit romantic feelings for her. He just wants to help her because she needs help and he enjoys her company. He’s hands-down one of the kindest characters Studio Ghibli has ever created.
  • Kushana. Here’s the first antagonist on this list. Kushana is one of the main villains in ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’. This movie is now considered Studio Ghibli’s first film, but at the time, it wasn’t even released under the Studio Ghibli name. Because of this, a lot of people miss out on this movie. I could say all of it’s characters could justifiably be considered underrated, but for now I want to focus on Kushana. This movie spends most of it’s time setting up the Ohmu, or large bug creatures, as the villains. But as it focuses on the preservation of nature, the true villains are the humans who are attempting to wipe out the Ohmu, led by Kushana. Kushana lost her arm in an Ohmu attack when she was a young girl. She’s sworn vengeance on them since, but she isn’t senselessly violent. She expresses her admiration for Nausicaa and her pacifist nature many times. She’s simply scared of the Ohmu. She also wants to keep her men safe. Despite her violent tendencies she cares very much for the people who work for her. She may be an antagonist, but even Nausicaa has a large amount of respect for her.
  • Jiro Horikoshi. Jiro Horikoshi is yet another male protagonist, this time form ‘The Wind Rises’. ‘The Wind Rises’ is one of Studio Ghibli’s more realistic animated films. Because of that, it doesn’t get as much attention as the movies with fantasy elements. Still, it’s a very emotional film with an engaging main character. Jiro dreamed of flying planes as a young boy, but because of complications with his vision, he comes to learn that it’s impossible. He turns, instead, to spending his life designing aircrafts. During his study of airplane designs, he arrives in Tokyo during the Great Kanto Earthquake. After the disaster he meets Naoko, his future wife, and her friend who has broken her leg. Without giving his name, he carries Naoko’s friend to safety and helps them get together all of the belongings they had with them. This isn’t the first of his uncommonly sweet actions. Throughout the movie he also attempts to offer his food to two orphans, and helps Naoko as her health begins to decline. Jiro is easy to like from the first few scenes of the movie, but he isn’t above making mistakes. He struggles to believe his designs are good enough, and he morally questions himself for creating designs that will inevitably be used for war. Miyazaki wrote his struggles with his own art, as well as his pacifist nature, into the character of Jiro. His writing allows the audience to admire him and still question every move he’s making at the same time.
  • Granny. Granny is one of the side-characters from ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. I don’t have to explain this movie because you’ve probably already seen it. I still find, however, that many viewers overlook Granny. She’s introduced as the neighbor of Mei and Satsuki when they move into their new house. She helps them move in when she sees them arrive and creates a quick connection with the girls over the soot sprites they saw. Afterwards, she becomes a very helpful and kind presence in their lives. She watches Mei when her father can’t and shows her just as much kindness as she does her own grandchildren. When the girls hear that their mother is sick, she does her best to comfort them and make sure they’re alright. She’s also extremely concerned when Mei goes missing. She does all that she can to search for her and rally others to do the same, while still worrying for Satsuki’s health. Granny acts as another guardian to both Satsuki and Mei even when she doesn’t have to. For that, she deserves respect.

There are so many more characters that deserve more recognition among Studio Ghibli’s films. Several more are in my first post in this series. Studio Ghibli has created only a handful of bad characters amongst their long list of films. Their female characters are almost always excellent female representation. They’re able to hold their own without losing any of their femininity. Their male protagonists have amazing personalities and are allowed just as much emotion as their female characters. Even their antagonists are relatable characters. Studio Ghibli does a very good job of making their movies both magical and realistic, and their characters are no different. I hope that I helped you find something new to watch or a new character to obsess over. You can never like Studio Ghibli too much, after all.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie