So, all you other yaoi fans out there, and really this applies to all forms of literature, you know that any story worth telling has to mean something to the reader. This rant/exploration of an idea can spiral off into thousands of directions, so forgive me for narrowing my scope right off the bat.
In yaoi, you will often find two types of relationships being developed. The fantasy relationship: [Student/Teacher - Boss/Salaryman] Generally a relationship between two characters that is more unlikely, and thus fulfills fantasies. [Like me sleeping with a cop someday :p]
The other is the more common relationship which usually occurs between [strangers - best friends - neighbors - classmates] These stories are usually less fantasy romance and more realistic "coming of age stories" where one or both characters struggles with their new found romantic feelings toward another character in a more believable environment.
So whats my beef? Well I hate that all the fantasy yaoi i read, has the characters involved in the taboo sort of fantasy relationship we all secretly wish for, and it works out for them. It makes it seem like that sort of thing is easily obtained in real life, which I can attest is not the case! [At least while you are still in high school. lol]
I can identify more with the love sick longing of the characters in the realistic yaoi, where sometimes love is painful and complicated in a real way, often leading to unrequited feelings, and flat out rejection. These stories bear more weight on the reality readers can expect to live out, and as such the lessons they contain should be held to a higher esteem. Instead, millions of girls worldwide now cling to their copy of twilight while turning out the nightlight and long for the day they too can be fought over by a vampire that sparkles and a werewolf with killer muscles.
[Side note: I would do all sort of censored things to Taylor Lautner if not for the fact my fanboy crush on Taylor Swift prevents me from eyeing her man candy!]
To round off todays entry..I point to another popular media to help shore up my point. To the few readers [3 from what I can tell] I have...that might be acquainted with the hit tv series "Glee". Kurt is a gay high schooler in small town america. [Shitty right?] Everyone picks on him because its a homophobic environment and in a recent episode he goes to an all boys boarding school to visit a rival glee club. As you can imagine..random pretty boy A "Blane..or Blake..or Boobhead...something like that." Is gay in his pressed and neat lil boy school uniform. Naturally they hit it off in a scene of awkwardly strangling kurts wrist while they skip merrily down a hallway together about 30 seconds after meeting for the first time. [I threw up in my eyes] This type of fantasy relationship is just what you'd expect right?! NO WAY! You find out in the same episode in a dramatic revealing gay kiss on tv, that the biggest bully in school, Kurt's tormentor is a closeted gay who hates Kurt because hes attracted to him and how open he is about his sexuality! I know right! There is a hefty dose of realism right there! Imagine a boy in high school gay bashing/picking on another gay kid because hes afraid of who he is and thinks that by bullying he can divert suspicion from his peers as to his own sexual deviancies! :P
He happens to be on the football team...which drags you back toward cheesy fantasy love..only hes a creepy stalker who terrifies the shit out of me....so it's ok! :P
Anyway:
Fantasy love is ok, as a story...but rare in real life. Shore yourself up hunny for the waves of reality you will be feeling in your teens and young adulthood. You'll get through it all I promise!
-CanadianCole:
Addicted to Yaoi!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Madlax: Anime review
Hey readers! Not that there are very many yet, but I suppose that's partially my fault for not updating more often.
I just finished watching an anime called "Madlax" that was released about 2004. I found it in my moms basement and I can't remember purchasing it, or ever watching it...though I'm sure it must have been me who bought it all those years ago. So I brought it home along with a care package of foodstuffs [Moms a great spaghetti cook], and I popped it in the Ps3 for a crazy 2 day 26 episode marathon.
Well, first off let me tell you all that I fancy myself to be a moderately intelligent person, who can often grasp complex plots and psychological undertones in a film/show. I'm that prick that you go to the movies with who leans over halfway through and accurately predicts the ending. Well this anime could be predicted in some ways, but the ending blindsided me with how funky and messed up it seemed, even when the conflict resolved I sat there trying to process what I had just witnessed. Let me fill you in to a bit of the story:
The Anime takes place primarily around the lives of 2 girls, roughly the same age, living completely different isolated lives. Margaret Burton: A 17 year old high school student, with a clumsy forgetful exterior, living in her family estate with her lifelong maid Elenore Baker. Together they form a basic routine of day to day life in the wealthy European inspired country "Naferce" [There's an Eiffel tower in the animation and the name is awfully close to a scramble of "France"]. You learn throughout the beginning episodes that when she was 5, she and her mother were involved in a plane crash, and both were missing for a long period of time. Margaret's father went looking for the lost plane and never returned. Margaret alone, with amnesia returned to her estate sometime later, the sole surviving heir of the estate.
The second girl is codenamed "Madlax" a feared agent working illegally in the fictional civil war torn country of "Gaznth-Sonika" which is a kingdom in southeastern Asia. The country has been at war with itself for over 12 long years, with no sign of a resolution. Madlax is a young girl, who was trained to be an agent by a mysterious "SSS" [her contract provider.] During the show, Madlax does a variety of work, including assassination, body-guarding, information gathering, and general undercover sneaky sneak work, relying on her keen shot and fighting "killers" instincts.
Now without giving away too much of the plot, the story twists and turns around a supernatural element...a kinda "mind control/inhibition removing "god language" that is contained in a series of books that can be used to alter the world. You learn that both Margaret and Madlax have been affected by the books int he past, and are being drawn together in a re-enactment of the situation that occurred 12 years previous, when the main antagonist originally used the books to start the war that has plagued "Gaznth-Sonika". As it turns out, both girls [in a way] were there during the climax that thwarted the bad guys attempt to alter the entire world, and he now needs them both in order to further his plans.
During the course of the show, many of the main characters you grow to empathize with, die untimely deaths, which I found to be saddening, as in the end I was half hoping for some sort of miracle time reversal, like it would go back 12 years and start over, without the war or death. Unfortunately, this was not to be, and the ending while satisfying to an extent leaves me asking questions. I pursued answers online, but only found the vague preconceptions of other viewers, no closer to an actual answer than if I guessed myself.
All in all, I enjoyed the series, and even though the ending leaves me partially confused and uneasy, it served its purpose to hastily tie a bow haphazardly around a decent product. If you like mind twisting animes, or hot chicks that know how to use guns....then you might try looking for "Madlax" to add to your collection. [Or watch for free online.....though I don't condone that sort of thing.]
Anyway; I'm gonna commit to start updating this more often, and maybe earn some readers sometime.
Later Days:
CanadianCole.
I just finished watching an anime called "Madlax" that was released about 2004. I found it in my moms basement and I can't remember purchasing it, or ever watching it...though I'm sure it must have been me who bought it all those years ago. So I brought it home along with a care package of foodstuffs [Moms a great spaghetti cook], and I popped it in the Ps3 for a crazy 2 day 26 episode marathon.
Well, first off let me tell you all that I fancy myself to be a moderately intelligent person, who can often grasp complex plots and psychological undertones in a film/show. I'm that prick that you go to the movies with who leans over halfway through and accurately predicts the ending. Well this anime could be predicted in some ways, but the ending blindsided me with how funky and messed up it seemed, even when the conflict resolved I sat there trying to process what I had just witnessed. Let me fill you in to a bit of the story:
The Anime takes place primarily around the lives of 2 girls, roughly the same age, living completely different isolated lives. Margaret Burton: A 17 year old high school student, with a clumsy forgetful exterior, living in her family estate with her lifelong maid Elenore Baker. Together they form a basic routine of day to day life in the wealthy European inspired country "Naferce" [There's an Eiffel tower in the animation and the name is awfully close to a scramble of "France"]. You learn throughout the beginning episodes that when she was 5, she and her mother were involved in a plane crash, and both were missing for a long period of time. Margaret's father went looking for the lost plane and never returned. Margaret alone, with amnesia returned to her estate sometime later, the sole surviving heir of the estate.
The second girl is codenamed "Madlax" a feared agent working illegally in the fictional civil war torn country of "Gaznth-Sonika" which is a kingdom in southeastern Asia. The country has been at war with itself for over 12 long years, with no sign of a resolution. Madlax is a young girl, who was trained to be an agent by a mysterious "SSS" [her contract provider.] During the show, Madlax does a variety of work, including assassination, body-guarding, information gathering, and general undercover sneaky sneak work, relying on her keen shot and fighting "killers" instincts.
Now without giving away too much of the plot, the story twists and turns around a supernatural element...a kinda "mind control/inhibition removing "god language" that is contained in a series of books that can be used to alter the world. You learn that both Margaret and Madlax have been affected by the books int he past, and are being drawn together in a re-enactment of the situation that occurred 12 years previous, when the main antagonist originally used the books to start the war that has plagued "Gaznth-Sonika". As it turns out, both girls [in a way] were there during the climax that thwarted the bad guys attempt to alter the entire world, and he now needs them both in order to further his plans.
During the course of the show, many of the main characters you grow to empathize with, die untimely deaths, which I found to be saddening, as in the end I was half hoping for some sort of miracle time reversal, like it would go back 12 years and start over, without the war or death. Unfortunately, this was not to be, and the ending while satisfying to an extent leaves me asking questions. I pursued answers online, but only found the vague preconceptions of other viewers, no closer to an actual answer than if I guessed myself.
All in all, I enjoyed the series, and even though the ending leaves me partially confused and uneasy, it served its purpose to hastily tie a bow haphazardly around a decent product. If you like mind twisting animes, or hot chicks that know how to use guns....then you might try looking for "Madlax" to add to your collection. [Or watch for free online.....though I don't condone that sort of thing.]
Anyway; I'm gonna commit to start updating this more often, and maybe earn some readers sometime.
Later Days:
CanadianCole.
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