LaBranche Ah! My Goddess

Hello everybody! Welcome to yet another week of my anime blog! As usual, I got a good one for yall! This week we will be talking about Ah! My Goddess, or Oh, My Goddess! To-may-to, to-mah-to, whatever you prefer. We are actually going to be talking about the movie, not the series, just so we are all clear with that.

Now, seeing as how I haven't watched a single episode of the series before watching this series, I think that it is no surprise that I was a tad bit lost at the beginning of the movie. Like, who or what the hell is this?

Looks cute, but I don't even know...

Yeah, I really don't know. 

Nevertheless, I was able to put some pieces together. It took me a little bit, but I eventually figured out that Belldandy and Keiichi were in a relationship. I also figured out that Belldandy was a goddess. Yeah.

I can also tell that this show probably has a comedic element too. I was laughing pretty loudly during the scene where Megumi and Sora are drunk. Really. Loudly. 

Hilarity.

Now, in all seriousness, there are some interesting points that I feel I should bring up. For one, a theme similar to that which we discussed in Princess Mononoke: women and power. I noticed, at least from what I gathered from the movie, that women pretty much have all of the power in Heaven, with the exception of the major head honcho, which I'm assuming is God, and also a male. He is only a floating voice, and only makes an "appearance" (he is never actually seen) in a very small part in the movie. Other than that, the females make all of the big decisions in the movie.

Also, true to Japanese culture, and apparent in most anime, the lines between good and evil are not at all clear or defined. The antagonist, Celestin, is the perfect example of this. His intentions are good-hearted; he wants to end all suffering and hurt in the world. How he plans on carrying out these ideals are questionable though. He erases Belldandy's memories of Keiichi, and uses her. And in order for all suffering to end, a new Earth would have to be created, consequently destroying the current Earth. Of course, this never happens. 

I also find it interesting that all of the protagonists are fighting to keep a world essentially where suffering is everywhere. You would think that they would also want suffering in the world to end, but I guess this movie teaches that suffering is an essential part of living. 

LaBranche Princess Mononoke

Hello to everyone and welcome to another week of my anime blog! I took a couple of weeks off, but do not fret! I am back! And I have a good one for y'all this week too: Princess Mononoke! Yes, we are going to be discussing Hayao Miyazaki's classic anime film this week, and I could not be more excited. So lets get started.

As to be expected, there are quite a few issues and conflicts in the film. One of these conflicts is between the animals and the humans. The animals are fighting to keep their forests, while the humans want to tear it down for their own resources. In order to do so, the humans of Irontown decide to kill the Forest Spirit, which in turn will destroy the forest and drive away all of the animals. This brings up a real-life issue all too well known throughout the history of humans and the world: humans versus nature. Despite the fact that we humans are a part of nature, we continually fight against it through new technological advances that supposedly make life easier. In the process, however, we destroy the environment that we live in, and that will eventually lead to our demise. In the end, nature will win.

One thing I find particularly interesting about the film is Irontown and its inhabitants. Though they are the enemies of the animals and intend to destroy the forest,  they are not necessarily an evil town. The town is made up of lepers and woman who have been rescued from brothels, and they, for the most part, are a tightly-knit and good-hearted community. Also, women have a powerful role in the town--Irontown is run by a woman, and the female inhabitants do much of the hard work and make the town profitable. However, they are not an ideal town, mostly because of the constant outside threats. Still though, it is a morally ambiguous town, for when they are defeated by Ashitaka and San, Eboshi, the leader of the town, promises that she will do things better, but it is unclear whether she has "good" intentions or not.

Eboshi