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07-12-2020, 01:11 PM | #11 |
Suprise Gamma Future
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,852
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This thread took a turn...
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07-12-2020, 01:53 PM | #12 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I...
... Build was a series that was very directly focused on war, with one of the main villainous factions being a weapons company headed by a war profiteer; and had the country split into three regions each controlled by megalomaniac prime ministers who would send the country into war for their own ends at the drop of a hat. The currently airing series, Zero-One; is a series composed almost entirely of the questions "how will AI develop in the future and how will it be integrated into society," and "should robots have rights", all while its two main villains are terrorists and a CEO written to be so hateable he's rivaling friggin' Kusaka Kaixa. Even Zi-O, a show which was very much doing its own thing; had episodes that very directly tackled the common debate in Japanese society about whether Nobunaga should be revered or hated. This is a franchise that literally started with Takeshi Hongou rider kicking thinly-veiled nazi allegories and making grand speeches about the importance of human life and how it matters above all else! Zero-One currently features an explicitly non-binary Rider with that identity never being questioned, representation in a massive pop culture staple that an equivalent series in America/Britain could barely dream of rivaling! Like, I don't even have to go into actual real-life examples here (such as Japan having its own very large feminist movement; the country relatively recently having a big push for having more women in the business sector; many schools allowing kids to choose whichever uniform they want regardless of gender; Japan handling Covid-19 far far better than most other countries; there just a couple months ago being a big protest against police for how they discriminate against foreigners), I literally just have to list some of the most major obvious themes of the last few seasons in the franchise we're talking about to show how utterly confused I am at the statement "yeah, they don't care about social justice". Just because it doesn't look the same as it does in the west doesn't mean that Japan doesn't have a lot of people disappointed in society and wanting things to be better, and subsequently have those disappointed people putting those ideals into their writing. I'm sorry to get so into this, I just really resent this idea of Japan being this amorphous apolitical blob comprised of people with the same opinion that all "don't care about social justice". It's a country filled with actual, real people with a vast array of political and social opinions just like anywhere else.
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Last edited by Kurona; 07-12-2020 at 02:00 PM.. |
07-12-2020, 01:59 PM | #13 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
I'm sorry to get so into this, I just really resent this idea of Japan being this amorphous apolitical blob comprised of people with the same opinion that all "don't care about social justice". It's a country filled with actual, real people with a vast array of political and social opinions just like anywhere else.
(Also, Faiz! Faiz is not subtle about its allegory!)
__________________
Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
07-12-2020, 02:19 PM | #14 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,270
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Quote:
I...
... Build was a series that was very directly focused on war, with one of the main villainous factions being a weapons company headed by a war profiteer; and had the country split into three regions each controlled by megalomaniac prime ministers who would send the country into war for their own ends at the drop of a hat. The currently airing series, Zero-One; is a series composed almost entirely of the questions "how will AI develop in the future and how will it be integrated into society," and "should robots have rights", all while its two main villains are terrorists and a CEO written to be so hateable he's rivaling friggin' Kusaka Kaixa. Even Zi-O, a show which was very much doing its own thing; had episodes that very directly tackled the common debate in Japanese society about whether Nobunaga should be revered or hated. This is a franchise that literally started with Takeshi Hongou rider kicking thinly-veiled nazi allegories and making grand speeches about the importance of human life and how it matters above all else! Zero-One currently features an explicitly non-binary Rider with that identity never being questioned, representation in a massive pop culture staple that an equivalent series in America/Britain could barely dream of rivaling! Like, I don't even have to go into actual real-life examples here (such as Japan having its own very large feminist movement; the country relatively recently having a big push for having more women in the business sector; many schools allowing kids to choose whichever uniform they want regardless of gender; Japan handling Covid-19 far far better than most other countries; there just a couple months ago being a big protest against police for how they discriminate against foreigners), I literally just have to list some of the most major obvious themes of the last few seasons in the franchise we're talking about to show how utterly confused I am at the statement "yeah, they don't care about social justice". Just because it doesn't look the same as it does in the west doesn't mean that Japan doesn't have a lot of people disappointed in society and wanting things to be better, and subsequently have those disappointed people putting those ideals into their writing. I'm sorry to get so into this, I just really resent this idea of Japan being this amorphous apolitical blob comprised of people with the same opinion that all "don't care about social justice". It's a country filled with actual, real people with a vast array of political and social opinions just like anywhere else. |
07-12-2020, 02:20 PM | #15 |
Stabby stabby
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 983
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I hate the notion that Japanese media is devoid of politics. As mentioned above, Rider is full of progressive themes (though still probably has a ways to go).
To act like "Doh, if it gets big in the west, the SJWs are gonna ruin it!" is ignorant, and idiotic, and I'd expect better from this fandom...for some reason. |
07-12-2020, 02:31 PM | #16 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
One person cannot speak for an entire nation.
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07-12-2020, 02:53 PM | #17 |
King of the Rolex
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Digital World
Posts: 452
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If Kamen Rider becomes more mainstream in the west I doubt the series going to be affected that much if at all.
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07-12-2020, 03:50 PM | #18 |
Avatar by: @autorun__exe
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Amsterdam
Posts: 409
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As for Kamen Rider being changed if it gets big in the west. Right lemme just say that first of all it won't. It will always be a niche following by teenagers that are angry over the internet. And if it did, Toei doesn't fucking care. Angry 15 - 40 year old Americans aren't going to change how the show is writen and directed. And hell even if it did, even if Toei decided to make a US adaption for each show where everything is changed to fit the "SJW Agenda". Guess what gang? You still got fan subs! So incase Kamen Rider gets HUGE in the west, and incase it gets so huge it warrants special edits for localized versions. They can't stop people from recording and subbing the Japanese versions. Don't worry, Kamen Rider would not be affected by anybody with a (made up) agenda.
Also pretending Japan is some non political wonderland is lying to yourself. Ichigo LITERALLY punches Nazis. Zero-One features an angry man clad in white, forcing a hostile takeover of a major tech company and kills sentient beings on sight, all while literally asking for the entire season "Should sentient robots have rights??". You can't pretend that stuff isn't political. Last edited by Damienthathedge; 07-12-2020 at 04:06 PM.. |
07-12-2020, 05:03 PM | #19 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,270
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Quote:
Because they're an individual. And as mentioned, Japan like everywhere else is a society made up of a wide variety of people with an equally wide variety of social and political opinions. You can easily find someone with pretty much the exact same ideals as that author in America (astonishingly easily, in fact), and you'll be able to find someone with the exact opposite opinions elsewhere. Different authors have different opinions on different things.
One person cannot speak for an entire nation. |
07-12-2020, 05:12 PM | #20 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,270
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Quote:
As for Kamen Rider being changed if it gets big in the west. Right lemme just say that first of all it won't. It will always be a niche following by teenagers that are angry over the internet. And if it did, Toei doesn't fucking care. Angry 15 - 40 year old Americans aren't going to change how the show is writen and directed. And hell even if it did, even if Toei decided to make a US adaption for each show where everything is changed to fit the "SJW Agenda". Guess what gang? You still got fan subs! So incase Kamen Rider gets HUGE in the west, and incase it gets so huge it warrants special edits for localized versions. They can't stop people from recording and subbing the Japanese versions. Don't worry, Kamen Rider would not be affected by anybody with a (made up) agenda.
Also pretending Japan is some non political wonderland is lying to yourself. Ichigo LITERALLY punches Nazis. Zero-One features an angry man clad in white, forcing a hostile takeover of a major tech company and kills sentient beings on sight, all while literally asking for the entire season "Should sentient robots have rights??". You can't pretend that stuff isn't political. |
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