KONSHUU
vol. 58 #5
Digital
Hatsune Miku Vocaloid Art By Heaven Jones
KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 5
THE 2 ₵ENT ₵ ₵ORNER ORNER Out of all the otaku-related media you've experienced, what is your
When you think of the "digital" aesthetic, what specific visual elements
I think of the cyberpunk style with holographic sheens covering techwear and futuristic sounds. I also think of anything that's been mainly digitized!
Catherine Chen Artist/Graphic Designer
Unrealistic or near-future aesthetics come to mind. For example, guns that can measure the crime coefficient of a shooting target and determine its threat level, as used in PSYCHO-PASS.
Mio Kurosaka Artist
Gridlines, vaporwave
My favorites that fit the digital theme (I have other favs that aren't digital) would have to be akudama drive, hypnosis mic, project sekai, vocaloids and their song producers, utaites, honkai star rail, and shelter (porter robinson mv)!
My favorite is Summer Wars. It is broadcast on TV every summer in Japan and I always like it so much that I watch it every year. It is a story about a high school boy, his senior Natsuki, and her large family who face the danger of world destruction caused by a rogue AI in a world linked to the virtual world, OZ, on the Internet.
Honestly haven't really watched that much stuff pertaining to digital media, maybe Steins;gate? Catherine Rha Artist
I think of glitch effects, windows on a computer screen, and pixel art, but it’s mainly because I’m imagining the aesthetics of Internet Yamero and Needy Girl Overdose right now.
Miranda Zhang
Artist/Graphic Designer
I would say Vocaloid! In addition to Vocaloids being personified as virtual singers, Vocaloid songs are often collaborations among people creating different kinds of digital media (producers, artists, MV editors, etc.), so it feels like Vocaloid is at the intersection of many different digital spaces and things considered “digital”.
KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 5
ALL HAIL THE DIGIMON QUEEN DEVON NGUYEN
Writer
3rd Year, Anthropology
Momentai
SPOILERS FOR DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02 AND DIGIMON TAMERS! It wouldn’t at all be an unpopular opinion to say that Digimon Tamers is the best of the Digimon spinoffs, if not the best series of them all. With its darker themes, an in-depth exploration of human-digimon relationships, and a completely different atmosphere from the two previous installments, Tamers made it known that it would build upon their foundations and push past the limits of what everyone had thought to be possible in an otherwise relaxed and light franchise like Digimon. No other character exemplifies this transcendence of the franchise more than Rika Nonaka (i.e. Ruki Makino in the original version), who with her Digimon partner Renamon, is a triumph of everything that has come before them. There’s an extensive list of all the things that sets Rika apart from her early contemporaries, but what stands out to me the most is her initial perspective of what a digimon partnership was and how a good chunk of her character arc was learning to value said partnership. Her initial relationship with Renamon was very transactional–they both wanted to be the strongest and thus, partnered up with each other to accomplish that goal. It’s because of this that there was little to no room for any sort of positive connection to be formed, as opposed to the immediate warm and fuzzy bond that previous characters had established with their partners the moment they met them. This is why it’s so satisfying to see Rika’s relationship with Renamon develop over the course of the series. We watch her confide in Renamon, shed tears over her, and eventually merge with her to become a powerful Mega-Digivolution. In many ways, Rika and Renamon’s partnership is a variation of Ken and Wormmon from Adventure 02. Both Rika and Ken took their partnerships for granted and only came around to appreciating it when their partners were in dire trouble (or in Ken’s situation, dead). This aspect of their characters is more effective in Rika’s case, however, because there’s ample time for it to truly simmer before she and Renamon become Sakuyamon for the first time. It’s an emotional moment for both of them, and Rika’s comment about
feeling the warmth of it all sums the experience up clearly. One of my favorite things about Rika is her journey in rejecting the superficial and accepting the meaningful. For a long time, she viewed Digimon as tools for battle, mere scraps of data that didn’t have thoughts or feelings of their own; her violent introduction showcases this very clearly. She saw the traditional values of her family to be weak and rejected any and all attempts that her supermodel mom made to bond with her. To Rika, there was only value in being the best, everything else was underneath her. But it’s through her strengthening bond with Renamon and her subsequent friendships with Takato, Henry, and even Jeri that her icy exterior begins to melt and see the power of having strong bonds with others. With Jeri especially, who’s far weaker and more feminine than her, Rika realizes that strength isn’t just something that can be physically felt–it can be emotionally observed too. She’s able to reconcile with her mom through this realization and finally accept the strength that comes with friendship. Her bond with Renamon will always be infinitely more powerful than anything else she was capable of in the past. I think the reason why long-time fans adore Rika so much is because they can all see a part of themselves in her. She feels like a real person we know or have been. Whether it be a fractured relationship with their family or an inability to see the value of true friendship, Rika Nonaka has touched countless people throughout the years. I know she’s definitely touched me.
KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 5
Ene
Kagerou Project Art By Ellya Kim
KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 5
DO IT YOURSELF: PERFECTLY IMPERFECT WAI KWAN WU
Managing Editor
3rd Year, Molecular Cell Biology
Some might call it wabisabi.
In today’s digital age, it’s not uncommon to hear quite a bit of doomer talk surrounding the modern visual landscape. There is a greater expectation for visual conformity: brands, websites, you name it, are all trending towards a sleeker, minimalized look, and we can only expect them to get increasingly more so. “Sterile” is a word that gets thrown around a lot here, especially with the onset of artificial intelligence and the contention of how that challenges the creative work of writers and artists. In more ways than one, comparisons can be drawn towards the state of the anime industry today. Anime has done a lot of growing in its time, especially with the 00s’ bumpy transition from cel to digital animation. Even someone with very little technical knowledge can pick out the visual differences between an anime from today and an anime from two decades ago, and this comparison is not always very favorable for the former. Indeed, with the animation industry going through something of a layout crisis, and the practical demands of the industry running almost entirely parallel to the business demands of the industry, we often end up with products that are much more limited, hindered by things like sterile compositing and unreasonable linecounts. As a result, it becomes even more important to celebrate anime that are able to triumph in spite of these conditions.
One look at Yusuke Matsuo’s Do It Yourself!! would tell you nearly everything you need to know: that it’s a comfortable, vibey sliceof-life show. But, it also sticks out as being very visually idiosyncratic and distinct, so how does it accomplish this in particular? Every aspect in the visual production of DIY comes together in a harmonious blend, backed by its incredibly strong art direction that creates its immaculate atmosphere. There is a very delicate touch
of humanity that pervades throughout the show, from the soft painterly aesthetic to the slight white fades around the edges to the grain-like texture that is applied to the backgrounds. The last point is particularly effective because the handmade touch that it gives reflects the idea of artistic imperfections, which plays a crucial role in the show’s portrayal of the spirit of freedom behind handicrafts. This visual cohesion allows the show to freely switch between fun dream sequences to dynamically storyboarded shots of the real world. Just as no two crafts turn out the same, no two shots in DIY look exactly alike, which makes it an absolute joy to watch.
The strongest element of DIY, however, would have to be its stylistic character designs, which are spearheaded by Matsuo himself. Incredibly kinetic and freeform, they lend themselves fantastically to making each character wonderfully expressive, while the looseness of the designs, in addition to their pencil-y outlines, becomes a centerpiece to the freedom in DIY’s visual craft. Yet, simple as they may be, the designs also hold a lot of details that accentuate the show’s main themes, and look no further than the main character herself, Yua Serufu. The little details in her design, from her half-tucked in school uniform, to the insides of her mouth that are deliberately left uncolored, are very much like Serufu herself: slightly imperfect. Serufu is clumsy and it shows in her work, but it is in those imperfections that she leaves her personal mark. It is in the bridging of these narrative elements with the visuals that makes DIY so thematically compelling. Do It Yourself!! asks a simple question: in a digital age where everything can be made so clean and precise by technology, is there still room for the imperfections made by humans? It tells us to cherish and embrace those imperfections, that they’re worthwhile even if they don’t need to exist, and it is made entirely believable by the passion that is clearly felt behind its visual accomplishments, with a level of visual cohesion that is rarely seen in works of today. I once saw it described that behind the most spectacular anime are the most foolhardy individuals that put forward their best work despite being given every incentive not to. Do It Yourself!! is the coalescence of the most passionate work in every aspect, and among a gloomy time in the industry, that is absolutely worth celebrating.
KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 5
Hatsune Miku (Ghost)
Project VOLTAGE (Pokémon ft. Hatsune Miku) Art By Catherine Rha
KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 5
SUMMER WARS: A 21ST CENTURY ‘TOKYO STORY’ RAHM JETHANI
Editor-In-Chief
2nd Year, English & Japanese
A painful inversion of Yasujiro Ozu’s masterpiece…
The 1953 Japanese film ‘Tokyo Story’ is widely considered to be a cinematic landmark, and its legacy has not only affected the Japanese movie industry, but also the medium of film itself since the time of the film’s initial release. Several notable elements, such as its precise direction, thematic exploration of family dynamics, and deliberate pacing, have consistently upheld its position in the upper echelons of Japanese cinematography. In particular, the setting of post-WWII Japan had not been portrayed quite as masterfully at the time of the film’s release, and its depiction of the broken and Westernized “traditional Japanese family” still continues to be deeply moving today. Furthermore, within the context of this time period, ‘Tokyo Story’ also told a story about the painful inevitability of children growing apart from their parents and family, which definitely helped the movie gain a wider audience. I bring all of these points up, as well as ‘Tokyo Story’ itself, because I couldn’t help noticing nearly all of these components, at least in some shape or form, appear in the 2009 anime film ‘Summer Wars’. While this comparison has been made before, it is worth noting that only certain shared aspects of the films have been talked about, such as how both movies focus on social problems within a Japanese family, and how both movies use what could be deemed as an “arthouse” aesthetic. While these connections are undeniably true, the current state of the discussions surrounding the films’ similarities lacks a lot of the in-depth substance necessary to constitute drawing the comparisons in the first place, at least in my own opinion. However, I still believe that it is worth going into the parallels between ‘Summer Wars’ and ‘Tokyo Story’, because the differences in their cinematic approaches suggest that a drastically different
viewpoint on Japan’s “broken and Westernized” familial state has developed in recent years from inside of Japan. Like ‘Tokyo Story’, ‘Summer Wars’ has notable elements worth paying attention to, namely aesthetic direction and thematic storytelling through family dynamics. Starting with aesthetic direction, it’s clear that the filmmakers prioritized creating a visual style that clearly separated a classic Japanese countryside aesthetic from a newer digital cyberspace aesthetic. While both settings are beautiful in their own right, it is curious how the film portrays the real-world setting generally attracting more negativity than the digital setting. Apart from the main conflict in ‘Summer Wars’, the digital space is largely depicted as full of opportunity, beauty, and freedom as opposed to the real-world’s problems of familial pressure, ennui, and isolation. In ‘Tokyo Story’, it is clear that social shifts arose and divided age generations, but the movie treated these shifts complexly, and the film is pervaded by the deep sadness of the loss of traditional ideals. ‘Summer Wars’ largely emphasizes the digital setting’s freedom, which seems to metaphorically communicate an infatuation with a more Western sense of individualism rather than the traditionally Eastern sense of collectivism seen in films like ‘Tokyo Story’. The one exception to this individualistic mindset is the thematic storytelling through family dynamics. While ‘Summer Wars’ does depict familial conflict in a negative light, full of useless melodrama and eccentric characters limiting each others’ relationships, it also shows hints of the beauty that both traditional and modern Japanese family dynamics can evoke. Much like in ‘Tokyo Story’, many of the characters in ‘Summer Wars’ are too proud, busy, and selfish to create a perfect living environment for their family. However, their small gestures of kindness go a long way in establishing strong familial bonds, as shown with Sakae Jinnouchi’s powerful connection to everyone in her family despite her rudeness and eccentrism. While this is the case, much of the family conflict in this movie is played off for humor, which while typical of the anime medium, perhaps also communicates a slight rejection of “familial significance” over “character significance”. ‘Summer Wars’ does take heavy influence from ‘Tokyo Story’, but their differences communicate a modern idea in Japan of a de-emphasized family structure, and a desire for freedom in opposition to the traditional Japanese collectivist school of thought. While glimpses of traditional familial bonds show through its cracks, ‘Summer Wars’ shows that the “broken and Westernized” Japanese family has already become a reality in contemporary Japanese society.
VOLUME 58, ISSUE 5 NOVEMBER 18, 2023
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