Creating Our Own Monsters
Less deep than it sounds; I'm actually just fangirling about a current-run anime.
Because if you aren't already, you should totally be watching Phantom in the Twilight. I know these Chinese co-productions have a lousy track record, but this show is a gift, with paranormal good boys (including a machine-gun-wielding jiangshi, what's not to love), a go-getter heroine who faces challenges but has the narrative behind her, and a healthy dose of shameless action and melodrama. It doesn't come off as a AAA project, but what it lacks in polish and elegance it makes up for in good-hearted fun.
One thing I like about the story is the worldbuilding of where the paranormal characters, called Umbra, come from. Basically they're born from human fear; when humans are afraid of something that doesn't really exist, they thus bring that thing into existence, potentially as a sapient being that can then decide for itself whether to live out the image that created it (perhaps with a little help from our heroine's awesome great-gramma). This is sketched in pretty lightly, but it's enough to make for a really interesting thought experiment.
And well, this evening I was thinking about our apparent main villain, Heishin (the monocle guy with the hair). In the most recent episode, he's identified with the hardline kill-em-all "Umbra Hunter" organization, but we've also had hints that he was around in Gramma Rijan's* time, so how does that square? I figure it's even chances whether Heishin is an Umbra himself, and that got me thinking.
If Umbra are born from human fears of illusory things, suppose Heishin is an Umbra created from Westerners' racist fears about China? I mean, he's a refined, intelligent, utterly coldhearted mastermind sorceror --- a pretty good fit for the exoticized bogeyman image that would have been current a century and change ago. We've literally got Dracula as regular cast --- what if this guy is essentially Fu Manchu, brought to life by the very racism that created him?
I'll be a little surprised if the show takes on something as heavy as directly commenting on racism like that, but once I had the thought I just had to share.
*I can't be the only one who's noticed that Rijan's name is a homophone for Legion. (As in Granfaloon from Castlevania, as in "My name is Legion for we are many.")
‡ original post at Dreamwidth ‡
Because if you aren't already, you should totally be watching Phantom in the Twilight. I know these Chinese co-productions have a lousy track record, but this show is a gift, with paranormal good boys (including a machine-gun-wielding jiangshi, what's not to love), a go-getter heroine who faces challenges but has the narrative behind her, and a healthy dose of shameless action and melodrama. It doesn't come off as a AAA project, but what it lacks in polish and elegance it makes up for in good-hearted fun.
One thing I like about the story is the worldbuilding of where the paranormal characters, called Umbra, come from. Basically they're born from human fear; when humans are afraid of something that doesn't really exist, they thus bring that thing into existence, potentially as a sapient being that can then decide for itself whether to live out the image that created it (perhaps with a little help from our heroine's awesome great-gramma). This is sketched in pretty lightly, but it's enough to make for a really interesting thought experiment.
And well, this evening I was thinking about our apparent main villain, Heishin (the monocle guy with the hair). In the most recent episode, he's identified with the hardline kill-em-all "Umbra Hunter" organization, but we've also had hints that he was around in Gramma Rijan's* time, so how does that square? I figure it's even chances whether Heishin is an Umbra himself, and that got me thinking.
If Umbra are born from human fears of illusory things, suppose Heishin is an Umbra created from Westerners' racist fears about China? I mean, he's a refined, intelligent, utterly coldhearted mastermind sorceror --- a pretty good fit for the exoticized bogeyman image that would have been current a century and change ago. We've literally got Dracula as regular cast --- what if this guy is essentially Fu Manchu, brought to life by the very racism that created him?
I'll be a little surprised if the show takes on something as heavy as directly commenting on racism like that, but once I had the thought I just had to share.
*I can't be the only one who's noticed that Rijan's name is a homophone for Legion. (As in Granfaloon from Castlevania, as in "My name is Legion for we are many.")
‡ original post at Dreamwidth ‡