Monthly Archives: February 2022

After more than a decade away, fan-favorite creator Mitsuo It is back with more sci-fi shenanigans. However, behind its "kids in lost in space" surface is a much deeper treatise on humanity's relationship with tech, nihilism, and fighting your fate.

This series is streaming on Netflix

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.

I was excited for this series just for the fact that I'd have another opportunity to peer pressure friends into watching Den-noh Coil, hands down one of the best anime of the century and a criminally overlooked classic. But it certainly helps that Orbital Children is a mini-series basically made for me.

I haven't watched all of Den-noh Coil myself so I recognize I'm totally part of the problem. (In my defense, I own the Blu-ray). From what I know about it, The Orbital Children really does feel like a "spiritual successor." It's using kids to explore hard sci-fi ideas with a playful and adventurous heart.

Having technology both socially and physically embedded in you comes with its weaknesses too. After winning a contest, three Earth kidsMina, her little brother Hiroshi, and Taiyouall travel to a commercial space station, Anshin. They meet our main character, Touya, who lives there in order to undergo physical therapy before immigrating to Earth. He and another girl, Konoha, were both born in space and had microchips implanted in their brains in order to survive. This apparently comes with some issues that we'll go into later, but as stuff goes down we see how these kids are helped or hindered by technology.

Also, while all that Seven stuff becomes important later, my favorite early detail is that they can't even get compensation for the faulty brain implants because the company that made them filed for bankruptcy. Even in the future, tech companies just waltz through loopholes.

They're good kids.

It's not an entire swing into leftfield. All the elements of this are there throughout, but it goes from the background to the forefront.

Oh yeah, not arguing that it isn't some Giga-brained Big Thoughts! Stuff is a real trip, veering from the realistic tech and into spiritualism related to tech and its future. It's pure conspiracy, but it also represents another very real way that people interact with technology where they think it's infallible despite being made by extremely fallible and limited humans.

I shotgunned this series like a three-hour movie for the purposes of writing, but I still had to take a few breaks just to sit and think about some of the concepts. Furthermore, it's revealed that even though Second Seven is intelligent, and may be able to predict some things, it's still limited. Konoha refers to it as a child. When the John Doe group made it, they constructed it using very select sources of information. They didn't even let it have a frame of reference for humans vs the whole of humanity, limiting what it could actually know and what conclusions it could reach. Why else would it determine that the only way to save humanity was to destroy so many humans?

What resonated for me was Konoha's line about escaping the cradle of "Fate"embracing an uncertain future for the possibility of better things, rather than the insulating comfort of an immutable destiny. And also I assume she kicked her gacha game addiction. Good for her!

Anyways, The Orbital Children is a wonderful little show that will blow your mind, while also being pretty safe for most people to dive into. It's a solid, well-executed, and well-thought-out package that is definitely worth your time.

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This Week in Anime - The Deep Themes of Orbital Children - Anime News Network

We all recognise her, the woman in her Fleabag era. We know that she is prone to showing up at work in last nights make-up, smoking two cigarettes for breakfast or experiencing the feminine urge to fuck her sisters boyfriend. We have spotted her everywhere, from the listless Rachel in Virginia Woolfs Voyage Out to the checked-out narrator of Ottessa Moshfeghs My Year of Rest and Relaxation. We know that she performs her pain as if it were a form of art; something outside herself that can be controlled, and yet chooses to revel in it regardless. This woman is a mess, a menace to herself and others, a self-raising red flag who would sooner die than communicate an emotion directly and shes the face of a new strain of feminism that has risen to prominence over the last few years. But, for all her crimes, is she even real?

The term dissociation feminism was coined by Emmeline Clein in 2019 in reference to a growing voice in pop culture an oversharing-from-a-distance mode of expression used primarily by women when narrating their tragic life experiences. Think: Euphorias Rue, or any of the skinny, precocious Irish beauties in Sally Rooney novels. Described as a curdling of the hyperoptimistic, #girlboss feminism of the aughts, Cleins dissociated feminist is dry and deadpan. She details overtly horrifying facts about uniquely feminine struggles in offhand jokes, of which she is always the punchline. And now, after a lifespan of three years, she has been sentenced to death.

The nihilism, passivity, and destruction inherent to the Fleabag era and dissociative feminism are damaging to the entire feminist movement, Sophia Peyser writes in a recent article titled The Fleabag Era of Dissociative Feminism Must End. The riposte comes after dissociative feminism and Fleabag era gained traction on TikTok, resulting in a trend of young women posting about wearing bathing suit bottoms as underwear, seeking vengeance for fun and other things that men will never understand because they are not A WOMAN WITH PAIN BUILT IN. Like Clein, Peyser sees this as a symptom of something gone wrong. That, rather than fighting for progress as a movement, women are languishing in individualised malaise.

For me, the dissociative feminist is the archetypal cool girl, says Ione Gamble, editor-in-chief of Polyester, who discussed dissociative feminism in a recent podcast episode. Shes a bit messy without trying, doesnt give a fuck about anything, very dejected about the world and apathetic about her future. But also, on the flipside, very aware of her emotions. I dont think wed be seeing these TikToks if there wasnt a certain amount of self-awareness there.

Its worth noting that the critiques Clein and Peyser have put forward also exist on TikTok, where users are posting counter-definitions of what a Fleabag era is (i.e. destroying your life from the inside out, not free-bleeding in your Calvins) or lamenting the dangers of entangling romanticism with self-destruction. Its also worth remembering that the Fleabag era trend comes from a side of TikTok that, while taken at face value like other forms of social media, often has more in common with entertainment. These usually arent the literal thoughts of actual people, but a form of abstract humour that speaks to things in the zeitgeist that may not feel personal at all. There is a very fine line between Fleabag era TikToks and a post youd find on an absurdist meme page like @patiasfantasyworld. In fact, the dissociative feminist is very much the foil to another pseudo-ironic social media-born persona: the socialist bimbo. That is, a big-titted babe often seen reading out Marxist quotes in a sexy baby voice while holding a fluffy pink pen, like Elle Woods of the online left.

What were seeing here are signs of fracture, as the tone of feminism in a cultural sense splits between earnestness (the defining mood of the 2010s), and bitter irony (which has come to bookend it). Its no coincidence that the dissociated feminist has revived around the same time were seeing a resurgence of Effy Stonem standom, chaotic celebrity behaviour and indie sleaze all of which share a similar nonchalance. The fatalistic tone of dissociative feminism, rather than anything new, has been the default tone of posting for years. The last decade was defined just as much by hyperoptimistic, #girlboss feminism as it was by dejected meme formats like my parents at 25 / me at 25. Its just that now, rather than being applied to all life under late capitalism, theyre being applied specifically to the femme experience (call it the yassification of inequality). Cleins article itself was a product of this type of posting, prompted by a viral tweet that said what i love about my friends is that 70 years ago we all would have been lobotomized.

We do accept that a lot of different feminist movements coexist, whether its abolitionist feminism, fat liberation feminism all these things intersect with each other and exist separately, says Gamble, who examines the relationship between political and cultural feminism in her upcoming book, Poor Little Sick Girls. One thing she does note about dissociative feminism is that, despite arriving in response to empowerment exhaustion, its still being defined within feminism, rather than outside of it. The girlies are more informed. Theyve grown up on the internet in a way none of us have, so theyre used to seeing every TV show they watch picked apart and everything they listen to have feminist undertones, Gamble explains. It makes sense that instead of saying I hate all of this, they find a way to see themselves in it.

Though the term dissociation feminism is a relatively new one, the concept has been around for much longer, sometimes referred to in academia as nihilistic femininity or womanly nothingness. In a book called Modern Feminism and the Culture of Boredom, Allison Pease looks at Woolfs Voyage Out through the lens of boredom as political commentary. On one level, Woolf protests [...] womens difficulty in achieving meaning in the male-formed world and presents boredom, often quite humorously, as a side effect of this confrontation. On another level, however, Woolf presents boredom much in the way that Martin Heidegger described profound boredom in his 19291930 lectures on the Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, as an indeterminate mood that undoes all interest and possibility and in which time becomes an empty, yawning expanse.

The same, really, is true of the Fleabag era TikTok trend. On the one hand its fun to indulge the Joker within as a way to alleviate the doom of the pandemic, climate disaster, and endless political turmoil that pose a greater threat to younger generations. On the other hand, there is nowhere to go from there. With Tumblr feminism, there were clear A-to-Bs: people making art on the internet became artists, or people who were doing activism online became activists, or they were being influencers and started profiting, Gamble cautions. I think dissociative feminism is interesting to talk about and gives people language to understand things maybe. But what would the next step be?

Realistically, there isnt one. The logical end point of dissociation isnt revolution, its the void and thats a very dangerous thing to sleepwalk into, politically speaking. But it seems to me that young women on TikTok are more than aware of the void, if only due to how unavoidable it has become. And if you do accept that theres a sense of self-awareness involved, as Gamble suggests, then perhaps were better off looking elsewhere for the future wave of feminism, and seeing the Fleabag era trend for what it is: a performative self-own. Not Fleabag the woman, but Fleabag the show.

See more here:

What does it mean to be a 'dissociative feminist'? - Dazed

It has been quite a while since we last saw Historia in the final season of Attack on Titan. After all, she is one of the most beloved and popular characters, apart from Eren. She took the back seat this time and allowed the others to take the limelight.

The last time we saw Historia, she was sitting in a rocking chair and looked very pregnant. Also, right in front of her, a young man in farmer's clothes told her that she needed to take better care of her body.

Hmm, lets stop at this point. How fast does time fly? How did Historia become pregnant? Who was the baby daddy? Is she even married?

Obviously, many questions arise from Historias pregnancy situation. Fans divided themselves into two factions. The Eren Yeager is the baby's daddy, while the others assume that the farmer in front of Historia (Latin American fans coined the term Farmer-kun) is the father.

To support their claim, the Eren is the Father fans presented some arguments that really made a lot of sense. However, there are also counterarguments to invalidate this claim, most notably from the Mikasa X Eren fanbase and the existence of Farmer-kun. In your opinion, who do you think is the father?

Disclaimer: Spoilers Ahead! Also, this article is not rooting for any canon and non-canon ships in the series.

You will also like: How Did Ymir Fritz Become a Titan?

At this point, we are very well aware that Historia developed a close relationship with Eren in the uprising arc of the anime. As a matter of fact, Eren reacted violently when the higher-ups of Paradis Island suggested that Historia should devour Zeke Yeager in order to gain the powers of the Beast Titan.

Eren did not want to see Historia as an incubator for future inheritors of the Founding Titan. This made us realize that Eren truly cares for her.

Meanwhile, they both share a lot of similarities and experiences in life. They both killed one of their parents, Eren, by eating Grisha, while Historia landed the last blow on Rod Reiss' abnormal titan. They also have older siblings with different ideologies from them. These are some of the reasons why they both relate to each other so much. One time, Eren even told Historia that she saved him from his nihilism.

There were also a few moments in the anime where we witnessed how Eren behaved in front of Historia. Just like Reiner, he would often blush and smile as he watched Historia do some maternal things. Who wouldnt? She is indeed, a beautiful sight. Mikasa even had a rage face in one of the episodes wherein she interfered in the middle of Eren and Historia.

Parallel to the manga, there were some events wherein Eren told Historia that she is a wonderful person, making Historia blush as well.

Related: Who are the Titan Shifters?

To support the claims and theories of the fans, they made quite a few assumptions, especially in the events of the Attack on Titan manga. Counter-arguments also resurfaced because of the main narrative of the story, especially Hajime Isayamas built-up on the relationship between Mikasa and Eren.

The first major assumption tackles the timeline between Historias pregnancy and Erens mission to Marley. Historia got pregnant right before Eren left for his mission. 10 months later, she gave birth in the middle of Erens rumbling. Historia even lied about her due date, which added to the speculations of the fans. Yelena even mentioned Historias pregnancy as a blessing. It's quite good timing, right? In Japan, pregnancy counts for 10 months instead of the normal 9 months.

In the manga, Historia tells Eren about her wanting to have a baby. Fans assumed she was hinting at Eren being her accomplice to do the deed. However, counter-arguments resurface, claiming that Historia only told Eren about it in order for her to escape and delay inheriting the Beast Titan powers.

On the other hand, the second major assumption involves Historias knowledge of the real plan of Eren. Take note that there are only two people who knew about Erens plan, Historia and Floch. This assumption indicates the level of trust between Eren and Historia. He even offered to alter Historias memories in order to deal with her sadness.

Lastly, the symbolism of a man holding a baby up in the air after the rumbling was done. Fans assumed that it symbolizes how poetic Eren is to bring a child into the world he always wanted. In 2018, Hajime Isayama even made a sketch of the supposed to be the last manga panel in Attack on Titan wherein he draws a medium-haired man holding a baby in his hand. The man said You are free. Fans speculated that this was Eren.

Fans also know how Isayama loves duality and foreshadowing in the series. They speculated that Eren is the same as his father, Grisha. Both of them loved someone of royal blood and loved a normal girl just like Carla Yeager. On the other hand, Eren has Historia as the royal blooded girl, a parallel to Dina Fritz, while Mikasa is the equivalent of Carla.

In case you missed it: Attack on Titan Titans Ranked: Who is the Strongest Titan?

The existence of the young man in farmer's clothing has a lot of plot holes here and there. Isayama failed to reveal the name of this local, not to mention the details of Historias pregnancy. Whether it was irrelevant or unnecessary, we really cant say.

Anyway, this young man is depicted as the official partner of Historia in both the anime and the manga. He was some sort of childhood friend that bullied Historia a lot. He wanted to make amends by providing service to the orphanage managed by Historia. There, we assumed that they grew closer together and formed a partnership.

However, based on the expressions from Historia, fans still speculated a lot. She was very stoic and unhappy, the opposite of the Historia we remembered before. This is not the face of someone in love at all.

Others theorized that Historia only used the guy as a scapegoat to delay her devouring of the Beast Titan. The official ship between Farmer-kun and Historia is FarmHisu.

Related: Where to Watch Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2

Officially, Hajime Isayama did not reveal any more details about Historias pregnancy. It is safe to assume that Farmer-kun is the lucky guy that knocked our Goddess. So much for being a bully!

A lot of people recognize this as a fact as well. If we are basing our story on the narrative built by Isayama about Eren and Mikasa, most especially in the last chapter of the Attack on Titan manga, then there is no way that Eren is the father at all.

Whether it is Eren, Farmer-kun, or even Reiner for the heck of it. It is up to you to decide. The bottom line is, we will always support our Cattle Farming Goddess until the end.

For your next read: Is Mikasa related to Levi in Attack on Titan?

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Is Eren the Father of Historia's Child in Attack on Titan? - Epicstream