Animanga Controversies Examined

Opinions on the many “vs” of the anime and manga fandoms.

The impact they had on us

It’s been awhile since the last blog carnival, which beyond their promotional character (read: circlejerking if you prefer) they also help us get to know more about each other.

Some weeks ago our friends on facebook started making top10 influential lists; it started with metal band albums and spread to video games to manga and anime. So we thought why not? Diary of an Anime Lived focused on anime that echo our real lives; ‘The impact they had on us’ seeks to pinpoint the anime or even manga titles that aren’t just a mirror of us or even our favorites but to highlight these stories that changed the way we viewed the world.

List and talk about 5-10 anime/manga that have influenced your way of thinking and your actions. Let me know if you are interested and I can create a page where every post is collected. Our entries follow.

On Emotions and Social Justice Modus Operandii

Introduction

Karen Araragi from the Monogatari series is a temperamental girl who kicks ass. In season 2, she exclaims that she and her sister Tsukihi are the Fire Sisters, called so because they stand for justice! For them, fire and flames are associated with justice. This appears to be the case for many social justice warriors (sjw) as well, some of whom spew flames and toxicity in their effort to bring down the system. What they often don’t realize is how Neronian and chuunibyou their behavior can be at times.

Foxy Lady Ayame and Neko-chi (who writes about the rvsa incident in Part 2a), attempt to describe the burning issue of social justice, talk about the bad side of tumblr, and pinpoint where movements like feminism can go wrong. Opening a can of worms, here we go! Long post ahead (5 pages) with very few images.

Reminders:

• We are two different people. Just because we agree on certain points, assume not that we agree on everything.
• Criticizing specific behaviors of (internet) activists doesn’t mean we are against social equality or that we don’t identify as feminists -we do.
• The US readers should keep in mind that our opinions don’t fit strictly into the two political boxes they are used to, so trying to read them as x party’s statements misses the point -especially since we live in Europe.
• If you want to comment, we’ll be very happy, but remember to do so politely. We retain every right to delete swears and if things get emotionally unbearable to disable the comment section.

Many thanks to John Sato and Phoenix who edited this sheet of words and to Lifesong who helped me clear out my thoughts and supported me in this project.

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What’s the fuss about Pride parades?

Introduction

Sexuality and gender are two of the most important aspects of a person’s identity. They are so important, in fact, that they shape how others perceive us and whether they approve and accept who we are. There are many stories, fictional or based on real circumstances, that describe the rising conflicts when expressions of identity outside of the norm become visible. Rarely though are we concerned with the opposite situation. Imagine what happens when something that you see as a fundemental aspect of yourself is invisible. 

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Kaori Yuki MMF: Call for participation

her, print her, she’s mad but she’s magic. there’s no lie in her fire.                                                                                                       ~Charles Bukowski

She must be a demon. Or a creature of that sort. Just look at her characters’ eyes: they seduce you, they look through you, they hold such power on you once you cast your gaze upon them; they will haunt you. She knows how to handle words to crawl under your skin and raise your hair on the back of your neck and stab you in the heart. She can show you the darkness and the light, but mostly everything between. She is kind enough to not only make you feel a deep sorrow but also make you laugh and fill you with hope. She’s jack of all trades and master of all.

She is Kaori Yuki.

And this Manga Moveable Feast is going to be about her and the sprakling precious jewels her works are. She is famous for Angel Sanctuary and Count Cain, but she has written and drawn more than 15 stories from 1986 till today. Her stories are unique and not just pretty and gritty, so it’s a shame that when you open her entry in English Wikipedia there’s so little about her, and articles reviewing and discussing her manga are sparse in the English-speaking online sphere. Thus we wanted to create the opportunity for older fans to praise her worth as well for those who haven’t ever read her to explore her magical worlds.

The Kaori Yuki MMF will run from Saturday, 20th April through Friday, 26th April. Start (re)reading and get your fingers ready to type, your voice to speak and generally unleash your love and creativity!

We will accept submissions at ayame(dot)purpleris75(at)gmail(dot)com or tweet @FoxyLadyAyame. People without blogs can also contact us to get their opinion published. If you’ve already got a post on Kaori Yuki, send it over here to get it listed in the archives of this MMF.

Anime Moonwalking, Manga Backflipping

Since this is a ‘new start’ of a sorts, it’s appropriate to make some re-introductions and get to know each other better. Besides the freshly updated ‘About Us‘ section, you can check out all the posts in the ‘Journal‘ category. This post is one more contribution to the said category.

We’ve talked about how we met and how Utena ignited our relationship, we’ve mentioned anime we identified with, we described the Greek otaku community the way we experienced it, but we still haven’t delved into how it all began between us and the anime/manga. The chance and idea to ramble about our baptism in these 2D worlds were given by Nopy’s project, “My History with Anime“.