Japanese Reading Report: 25 August 2024

Here's what I read and watched this week:

エロゲー文化研究概論

Moving on from the pre-history of erotic games to the late 80s and early 90s. Just like many books on the topic of erotic material in Japan, the "Otaku Murderer" was mentioned as a huge blow to accessibility of adult media as well as the development of various cultural mediums (manga, anime, and games in particular). One thing I found amusing about the early 90s history of erotic games was how many were simple quizzes with stripping girls as the reward for correct answers. What really took me off guard was learning about GAINAX's own entry into the erogame industry in the early 90s with games such as 電脳学園, a quiz game where girls strip as a reward. Generally I just find it fun to learn more about GAINAX through incidental references. I basically knew them for nothing but Eva until learning Japanese, and while I haven't really sought out any of their other stuff it has been interesting to learn about their other anime, games, and other financial endeavours. Another fun studio I read about was O.D. (オーディー), a company that produced games for personal computers where players could discover secret erotic scenes by holding down the O and D keys on their keyboard at startup.

機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY

I'm not really sure what to mention but the season basically ended how I expected it would. Shin was given just enough space to get a redemption, Durandell was killed by the person who I felt was the best fit for that, and a fragile peace was restored. While it wasn't perfect I actually really liked the repeat scene where Mu protects the Archangel. Where the original scene marks the "death" of the character, this repeat is sort of his "rebirth" as Mu. It was alright basically.

コードギアス反逆のルルーシュ

A bit of a weird one. So the first night I watched this I accidentally started season 2 instead of season 1. I was immediately drawn in by the amnesia, call to action, and the pacing sort of filling in details contextually the three episodes... then I found out it was season 2 and had to go back and start from the real start. Oh well, I thought R2 was a pretty good way to open the plot! Season 1 was still pretty good though the opening was a lot slower and didn't draw me in right away. I like the dynamic between Lelouch and Suzaku and I really like the lengths Lelouch goes to hiding his identity as Zero. I've never seen/read Death Note but I definitely get vibes of like a Light/L/Kira (I don't even know who is who I just know the memes) dynamic. I also like that Lelouch is not an ace pilot. It's a mech anime but he's a tactician and I think that's a cool angle. I also like the ブリタニア帝国 occupation setting and the Knights of the Round theming for bad (and good) guys. Basically it's really enjoyable so far. The last episode I watched went a bit deeper into Karen's home situation and background and the ending really moved me. Can't wait to see where it goes.