I don’t want to dwell on it, but it basically boils down to:
i dont understand why free is popular. i was told that women only like entertainment with strongfemale characters that pass the bechdel test
— meet THREE habsburgs for the price of one (@jpmeyer) July 18, 2013
@jpmeyer monogatari ep2 actually failed because of two women talking about a man, that one hardly ever happens in anime
— MVB (@astrange_e) July 18, 2013
Oh Japan?
I think the chit-chat between the co-stars of the Monogatari series in episode 2 is not only an excellent fanservice vehicle (in the way boys like to see two girls get it on in the way Senjougahara explicitly inferred for what Araragi likes), but also it’s just exhibition of Hanekawa when we take a known value that is Senjougahara and put them side by side. It’s character development. But yes, the two girls did talk about the guy, since it is a point of reference as a foil device. Is it Bechdel compliant? Is it problematic that we are thinking it in terms of compliance to Bechdel? I think that is more so the case.
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Some Idolm@ster info:
From Exciel-P, who rolls his own blog. Basically, it’s a touching story about a man who loves Azusa and then went on to become a legend.
Here’s some fan translation of a guide on how to do the iM@s 8th Anniversary tour. It’s noteworthy because I think it’s a good intro guide to people who have never done nerd concerts in Japan before. At least the big ones. This ain’t how it rolls if you want to attend, say, underground idol lives or CooRie’s shows, lol. What it gracefully and unfortunately leaves out is how to get tickets. Getting tickets is still the most difficult barrier one has to overcome to do such a show, especially for foreigners.
Lastly, some caps from Mayachan’s Big Jump. A bit of background: this past February there was a 2-part concert and during the first show, Mayako Nigo’s first solo act had a tumble and fall. Basically she’s catapulted from the rising stage a little too … fast, let’s just say. While she continued on like a champ barely missing a beat, it was a (somewhat slight) shock for a lot of people watching it. Now I get a shock from watching the concert on home video.
July 19th, 2013 at 7:08 am
It’s fascinating how many anime are actually Bechdel-compliant by default because they have little to no male presence.
I guess the moe cancer is good for something?
July 19th, 2013 at 9:52 am
Moe cancer is “saikou daze”
I think it’s just a case of people failing to apply the right mode of analysis, when it’s all said and done.
July 19th, 2013 at 11:23 pm
It might not have the best wording, but I seriously doubt the Bechdel Test implies that 2 women talking can’t mention a guy so much as they need to talk about something other than JUST a guy. They talk about sleeping arrangements, where Hanekawa is going to live, food, jogging and the entire subtext when Black Hanekawa and Hitagi meet. The fact that Hitagi is dating the boy she loves is obviously going to be important and it would be stupid to ignore it, but there are a great deal of other things going on between the two characters.
July 20th, 2013 at 9:25 pm
well, don’t take it too seriously. the tweets i quoted are not entirely serious.
July 21st, 2013 at 4:10 am
It wasn’t really that serious. The girls in Monogatari certainly have plenty of agency.
That said I really didn’t appreciate how they often suddenly turn bisexual in the name of postmodern fanservice jokes.
July 21st, 2013 at 9:38 am
“Oh Japan” is now apropos.