A simple little ramble page I made to quickly share my thoughts on different properties or media without dedicating an entire page to it (for the moment). Feel free to read and agree or disagree...
All reviews made here will not be spoiler free so beware if you care about that kind of stuff.
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I have been vaugely familiar with Colin Armistead's work online for a couple of years, mainly from his Yume Nikki 3d model gifs to artworks he has posted online. However, the most recognizable yet seemingly enigmatic creation of hers, that had been in works for a while was the titular character of Colin's CalArts 2025 short film; Angelic Kitty Miracle Chan.
Ever since it finally released to the public on Youtube, it has been the subject of criticism and praise. Much harsher critics who found and watched the film put it on blast for potraying a very outsider and misinformed view of weaboos/hardcore anime fans akin to old boomer mindsets or that for a film that was supposed to be about transgender issues surrounding a transgender main protagonist, it had been too shallow and inadvertently or intentionally transphobic especially with both topics combined of an anime obsessed trans shut-in.
Those who were in favor of the film or had more positive views on it combatted the more negative criticism, expressing that Angelic Kitty Miracle Chan and Alex (the main protagonist) were authentic potrayals of lived trans experiences some had and mainly the struggles they dealt with.
I will not linger any further on online discourse as interesting as it is, but I will share my opinion and what I felt upon finishing my viewing of Angelic Kitty Miracle Chan when it first released.
Angelic Kitty Miracle Chan is very blunt in it's topic of trans struggle, mainly with exploration and escapism through media. After watching the film and seeing the different opinions arise, I decided to read the full press inteview held with Colin and the voice actor of Miracle Chan, Phoebe about the film. The interview generally answered and explained the ideas behind the film and the intent the creators had about it, especially in relation to the topic of gender identity.
While I think there's a lot to be critiqued and discussed of how the film goes about with these themes and topics at the end of the day, I did find the idea and story of Alex compelling and sympathetic. The film is very clear with showing how Alex struggles with confidence and self isolates from people (mainly, other most likely cis girls), you root for Alex to get out of her room and attend that party she was invited to, yet the film ends on a bleak and chilling note right after Alex quite literally throws away what she thought would make her happy/more true to her idol and in turn herself. I can understand even the harsh critiques of Alex being a bordeline transmisygonistic stereotype of a “civilized western person corrupted by east asian cartoons” or a “man who wants to be a woman but has unrealistic standards of what feminity is through anime girls” due to the end and the pretty unflattering shots of Alex being awkward and a hermit who’s obsessed with a moe anime girl. But, I do think these critiques are missing the point of Alex’s character, once again you’re supposed to understand why Alex likes something like Angelic Kitty Miracle Chan so much despite how “weird” it seems to “normies” and empathtize with her struggle of exploration and belonging, you ultimately want Alex to succeed in some way whether it'd be hanging out with her peers or coming out and transitioning. If I could put in my own input, I relate to the feeling of not belonging and the fear of not meeting my expectations/wants with gender presentation/transition, I relate to how bleak it does feel living as a transgender person who lives in a pretty transphobic/trans unfriendly environment in Asia and contemplating my choices to stay in the closet for safety vs going through hoops and unacceptance by those who have power over me for being myself.
It is a difficult and complex discussion when it comes to media representation of minority/opressed groups just due to the world we live in, no one can be a true spokesperson of the “definitive” truth and groups of various people from differing backgrounds and opinions and life experiences are not monoliths. Of course we shoot down negative stereotypes common in past potrayals of certain groups especially when they are outwardly harmful no matter how “true” it can be, however we should not conflate that with minority characters who are imperfect characters are have less than desirably traits.
This of course is also a very naunced topic especially with who ends up potraying such representation, we emphasize the importance of getting authentic voices and differing points of views from the people or group you end up potraying, however, that should not close off the ability to discuss or write characters or experiences by people who aren't of that background, especially when they are good (good however is highly subjective and once again, naunce is to be had about still doing your due dilligence and not speaking over people). For clarification, Colin and Phoebe (from the interview) are both trans themselves and are obviously writing from a place of personal experience, of course this won't align with everyone's own experience being trans or lgbt, but should that really matter in the end when it comes to the work itself, devoid of this information? Would knowing that this did come from an authentic and personal place change people's critiques of the film magically? Does it matter when viewing the work for what it is and what state it was presented in, quite frankly while I have a much more positive-neutral view of this film, the shots are quite mediorce/nothing too special and the film I think was too short/ended too suddenly and Alex and the minor side characters of the film while serving their purpose are pretty one note. The only standout moments of this film are the beginnning animation and the scene where Alex puts on the costume of Miracle Chan which is really impressively made/has good attention to detail.
It's clear that despite the accusations of this film being a smarmy “heh! I'm so much better than those perverted animes” message or being anti-weaboo, this film was a love letter to Moe and anime (if it wasn't clear from the really accurate style study done), it was not half assed in that department which a lot of media that do actually fall into what I formely mentioned tend to be (ahem, looking at you class of 09). While not my favourite short film ever, not even close, nor particulary memorable apart from Miracle Chan and the explosive discussion sprouted from this film, I appreciate the approach it wanted to take towards topics people generally seem afraid to touch upon, least they get publicly witch hunted from, this shouldn't discourage anyone from either improving upon it's ideas or challenging it.
At the same time, I don't blame the much harsher critiques of this film even if I disagree (generally if they aren't legitimately just bigoted), people of that group represented on the big screen are allowed to have differing opinions on things especially when it impacts/speaks on their own lived experiences and you shouldn't cherrypick who exactly of that group you think is more correct than the other. Once again, transgender people/transgender women are not monoliths.
Conclusion: Angelic Kitty Miracle Chan wasn't really mind blowing or the literal devil, it is a fine enough short film that has pretty animated visuals and sparks up interesting debate, the former probably being it’s lasting legacy in online discussion, apart from Miracle Chan as a character design. It did make me think though especially of topics I feel passionate about, which is definitely more a positive than some other things I've seen, especially of the same subjects it handles.
7 Lobotos out of 10
Tokyo Godfathers is an unbelievably beautiful Christmas film. I have watched other Satoshi Kon animated classics before Tokyo Godfathers, such as Perfect Blue and Paprika and I loved the experience from those. However, despite not being a huge fanatic over these works, Tokyo Godfather speaks out the most to me compared to the former films mentioned especially now more than ever.
I really do believe you should watch this film for yourself to experience the message and themes present, but I find the treatment and portrayal of homelessness/homeless people shown and also the variety and complexity of each character's situation very compelling in a way I've never seen much other media, nonetheless, a non-western animated film portray with this much depth and compassion.
Even then, how this movie portrays poverty and the experiences homeless people have to go through is not as different as many cases of homelessness in America or the like and I really appreciate that kind of realism in this film.
Another aspect I also love was the portrayal of Hana and her being a trans woman, it's rare to find media that depicts trans people, especially trans women who aren't passing in a tasteful way, and while Hana has her comedic moments, her motivation of wanting to raise and take care of what she presumes is an abandoned baby due to her upbringing as an orphan questioning if she was ever loved throughout her childhood especially the extra risk and difficulty involved being homeless and having to scavenge for resources is extremely heartwrenching and you do just understand her reasoning and reaction towards certain things (such as her outburst towards Gin upon finding out he had lied about losing his daughter and wife when he was a gambling deadbeat).
This movie kept me on my toes about what would happen especially near the climax which gave me chills… while it is implied/the story is left on a positive end note with Miyuki reuniting with her father and all three of the main protagonists winning the lottery, it did make me wish we could've seen a conclusion where they're all living together happily. In conclusion, a phenomenal movie, truly one of the best Christmas movies and in my opinion, best Satoshi Kon movie made.
Peak cinema tbh.
Being serious here, I actually have some history with this movie, having watched this about 4 different times in different language dubs and even having a plushie or two of the titular alien character.
Having remembered a good amount of what happens during the film especially the climax and ending, I can't say I was really suprised by the movie. What I am suprised however is the amount of goofy slapstick that was present in scenes, especially the fantasy sequence the main kid character Dicky (yeah, don't question it) has.
Like I was legit caught off gaurd when all of that happened, even making me question what scenes of the movie were actually happening. On a more sour note however I also got caught off guard by the casual much less goofier, child abuse/beating that Dicky gets from his father, ig it really is just one of those major cultural differences from western media (a pretty bad one at that) where parent characters casually just beating or mistreating their children is normal.
Overall this movie while somewhat predictable is a very almost campy watch if you like goofy slapstick esc action and funny 2000s cgi marketable creature sidekicks. Watch if you're interested in viewing any kind of non western/chinese cinema or if you just wanna have a quick laugh.
To be frank, I already solidified that I wasn't going to like this movie ever since the first trailer/promo for it came out. I went into viewing the movie as a hater or with extremely high standards in order to be impressed by.
Especially with what the movies tries to tackle, so not much of a suprise I really didn't like this movie. It's sad cause I did have a legit flicker of hope to atleast find this movie an ok to decent-ish watching experience, especially with how personal the story is to the director, but there's simply too many flaws and problems present within the movie to really try and turn my brain off to enjoy it.
Fine ig if you don't really have any super high expectations or views of it beforehand like I did but it is really one of those things where the more you think about it the worst it gets. I'll elaborate more on that in here
I watched this webseries with a friend after having a good listen of the album that was based/made alongside this series.
It's always super interesting to see The Residents delve into other mediums apart from music to tell a story, nonetheless an ARG during a time where interaction via emails wwere a pretty big part of the entire series.
There's a good sense of mystery present throughout the entire series relating to the main character, Bunny Boy/Roger, and his quest to retrace and locate where his brother, Harvey has gone to after going missing from an "incident "and leaving behind hints and clues about his current where abouts.
The ending to the entire series also leaves a good amount of stuff up to the viewer to get multiple different readings/interpretations of characters like Roger and what the series is.
I might potentially make a single page dedicated to my personal reading of this series but overall, another very stellar job well done by The Residents of making an alternate reality game/webseries!
You can skip this if you wanna read my past opinion on the what used to be newly released season 2 of Clone High, I honestly do not care that much about clone high now nonetheless enough to really watch the third season anymore.
It'd honestly be much midder than I remember/last watched, quite a shame this series ended on a wimper of a cancellation especially when you've seen the amount of hype and fanfare for season 1 and news back then of a revival.
People who are fans of new clone high are perfectly fine in their enjoyment of the series and new direction! I find it easy to sometimes get wrapped up in past nostalgia of old clone high or older cartoons in general but I can simply say season 2 has just never been for me nor will it be.
Clone high season 2 is honestly a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I get that most of the new changes (new clones, character dynamics/writing etc) was due to change just on account of time differences and such, especially with the removal of Ghandi till season 4, it just didn't really feel like a true predacessor of season 1 or a true evolution of the formula till 6 episodes in.
Episodes especially like the silly-legs episode or the pilot just feel unnatural to the characters/themes of season 1 and it does feel like it isn't really playing into the whole teen drama aspect that it specialized in season 1. New characters are fine enough however another thing I feel is that some characters dynamics such as jfk or confucious nor cleo and frida's rivarly weren't really expanded on much, unfortunate for the latter since I do legit like the choice to make them a pair, ig I wish instead of Cleo trying to ruin joan it was frida so we had that build up like in episode 3.
Last 4 episodes however really picked the show up in everything and I'm anticipating how season 3 will handle the cliffhanger we were left off on. Overall pretty fine watch if you're familiar with clone high, here's too hoping they can stick to the new standard set from episode 7.
