Kawaii: Anime, Propaganda, and Soft Power Preview
Added 2024-06-01 16:17:26 +0000 UTCI have a special surprise for the Patreon: a preview of the upcoming video on anime and soft power! The title is a work in progress -- I'm afraid that I've always been terrible at coming up with video titles, so if you can think of a better one, I'd be happy to hear your suggestions.
The full video will be about two and a half hours in length, and this first twenty six minutes or so serves as an introduction and contextual history lesson before we get to the meat of the topic itself.
Please enjoy, and let me know what you think! And see if you can spot which stock footage is the stock footage I took myself!
- Moony
Comments
Soft Power is a surprisingly unknown concept. I am really liking your take and explanations. And japanese history is always an interesting and popular subject.
lChronosl
2024-06-06 00:17:28 +0000 UTCI went to japan very recently and figured id share some thoughts I had while there. While being the usual consumer while there, enjoying the convenience stores and hole in the wall restaurants, I couldn't help but notice how japans Toxic Work Culture is a consequence or cause of a LOT of how Tokyo has developed, how convenience stores have developed, how the public transit has developed to bridge the dense suburbs with the city centers. Going to work, Go home, Go to work, Go home, ad infinitum. This necessitated that any stops they make during the day, for a decent meal or misc items they need for home, be readily available from places long their commute. Japans Respect Your Elders and Hierarchical attitudes being easily exploited by Capitalist Powers, makes Tokyo developments and public spending no brainers to keep the well oiled labor machine whirring. You can easily see why their birthrates are declining a consequence of generally staying out of each others way, constantly being either on their way to work, on their way to eat, or on their way home. On one evening rush hour I rode the Yamanote Line going to Akihabara to visit a book store one last time, and it was COMPLETELY packed. But, everyone on the train had their faces buried in their phones. I found this moment in particular quite telling, how quiet Japan was compared to America. Immediately upon escaping US customs and getting back into DFW for my connecting flight back home, I heard a woman yelling at someone, yelling for security, and I knew I was back in America. I'd heard it before, but when I saw it first hand I suddenly knew exactly what it meant, when Tokyo is described as Disgustingly Efficient. Japan has seemingly taken in Western Capitalism and have done it extremely effectively, but in a Uniquely Japanese way, for better and for worse... It was certainly a culture shock I had anticipated, but seeing is believing.
Ursula Senpai
2024-06-04 18:52:04 +0000 UTC
