Geraci--Ninja Scroll

Image from Nightfall.com 

Ninja Scroll is a violent, erotic, and beautifully done movie. Ninja Scroll is a historical fiction anime. Jubei was a real samurai in Japan’s era called the Warring States. The legend that surrounds him is not all that different from England’s Robin Hood. Jubei’s name is well known to every Japanese citizen, and his resistance to the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ninja Scroll illustrates well the discard between Jubei and the Japanese citizens, and the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Tokugawa Shogunate wanted to centralize government, while diminishing the rights of all the citizens. The film is showing the importance of rebelling against a corrupt government that has no interest in the well-being of its people. Jubei is a beacon of resistance and hope for the oppressed citizens. Even today, Jubei is looked upon with admiration and gratitude. In Ninja Scroll, Jubei, Kagero, and Dakuan must face the eight demons of Kimon. Jubei is able to defeat five of the eight demons with a humble attitude and great sword skill. Kagero killed two demons with the poison her body naturally produces. The demons had power, but they were not humble in their ways, which lead to their downfall. I think this shows, very accurately, how having power is not everything someone needs to be strong. In this case, having power and arrogance leads straight to death. I do not think Yurimaru was as arrogant as the other demons, (this could be because he was my favorite, and I am blinded to his flaws) so his death was not due to overconfidence. His death was due to the jealousy of one of his fellow demons, Zakuro. Her jealousy of Yurimaru and Gemma’s love drove her to kill the man she claimed to love. The mentally of, “if I can’t have him, no one will!” Ninja Scroll uses the natural world to tie in the elements of Shintoism, and it uses the demons to bring in Buddhism. The combination of Shintoism and Buddhism serves as a reminder that live and death walk hand in hand. 

Geraci--Akira

Taken from Nerdreactor.com

            For the average American viewer, Akira is a weird and disturbing movie. Even for an American otaku, Akira can seem strange; however, we can also appreciate it for the masterpiece it is. The anime movie Akira revolves around a series of complex issues, and cultural references that people who are not native to Japan would not understand. In Japan, media censorship is not a new idea. The government does not want to upset the Japanese people with unpleasant news. In Akira, the government is not censoring the media for the sake of their people, but for their own sake. To keep the people from finding out what the government and military are doing on their own. They are trying to control what the people know about the resistance and the genetic experiments they perform on helpless children. The military is in-charge of the scientist who performs the experiments on the children. I believe this is a major indicator of military intent to use the children as their weapons and tools against Akira, and possibly the resistance. The experiments age the children dramatically in physical features, which make them look like small, old people. The drugs the scientist use boost the physic powers of the children, which is most likely the cause of their rapid aging. These kids did not go through these tests willingly; they were, most likely, taken off the street like one of the main characters, Tetsuo. Tetsuo is in a motorcycle gang with the other main character, and his best friend, Kaneda. Both of them take a part in the teen-age rebellion against the government and war, just in a different way than the people in the resistance army. Kaneda and his gang are more concerned with resisting authority and rebelling against the adults who look down on them. The people in the resistance army are more concerned with government and military action/control in the country. Most of the action in the movie revolves around a person named Akira. Akira is never seen until the very end, and even then, he is just chopped up body parts. Akira seems to be the manifestation of hope and terror in the people in Tokyo. Hope for the oppressed, and terror for the oppressors. Akira is believed to be the bringer of justice and judgment, like a type of new god. I believe Akira was a young boy with great power that went out of control and destroyed everything. I think Akira was made into a bigger phenomenon than he actually was.    

Geraci: All About Lovie Jean

My Name is Lovie Jean and I am the fourth Lovie in my family. My great-grandmother was born on Valentine’s Day and her nick-name was Lovie, then my grandmother, then my mother, and now me. Jean is my dad’s mom’s name. I have a younger sister whom I love dearly, even if she is the exact opposite of me. My friend Kellie got me interested in anime in the fifth grade with inuYasha. That was the beginning of the end. The first time I went to an anime convention was in 2006 at Akon in Austin, Texas with my mom and one of my friends. My sister, who just turned 12, went with us to the hotel, and completely freaked out when she saw all the people who were cosplaying. She had to stay with a friend that lived nearby for the remainder of the convention. The years after, I decided to go to a more local convention, Mechacon. I have been going to Mechacon for five years, and I bought a gold pass for the past two years. I have seen a lot of anime, but my favorites are Code Geass, Full Metal Alchemist, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, and Fooly Cooly. InuYasha will always have a special place in my heart as my first anime. I have about 297 manga on my book shelf, and I am running out of space. I have plenty of anime magazines such as, Shonen Jump, Shojo Beat, Yen+, and other miscellaneous magazines. I am an International Business major and I really want to work in the anime industry, hopefully in Funamation or Viz Media. I do not know exactly what I want to do in the industry, but I know for sure I want to work with anime. I am taking Japanese, so maybe I will be a translator, or consultant.