#anime-tropes — Public Fediverse posts

I don't really have poor impulse control. It's just bubbles emanating from my nose.

#AnimeTropes

This post is spoiler-heavy, so be warned. I mentioned my desire to read Dungeon Meshi manga in a previous post. Thematically fitting for this post, I managed to get a hold of and read them to the end. And, what do you know? Apparently, there is a demon who grants wishes in Dungeon Meshi.

Suffice to say, Dungeon Meshi managed to bring me into a state of shock (again) on how well-written, and rich the story is. One particular aspect captured my mind and set my brain into overdrive. I suddenly got an insatiable urge to write about it. It’s the winged lion and the wishing trope.

There are a couple of good reasons the winged lion captivated me so much. I’ll be going on a bit of a tangent here, so you’re welcome to skip it. However, I’d like to lay out my personal context on why the winged lion left a unique impression.

A Bit Of Context About This Post

First off, the trope of humans asking a creature of questionable nature is something that I feel so familiar with. Seeing how Laios and Marcille interact with the winged lion somehow ticked off a particular part of my memory.

No, I don’t have any experience summoning demons, nor am I someone who ventured into paranormal activity. But, growing up in a relatively rural area, it’s not particularly strange to encounter these practices. I vividly remember flying kites with friends and finding incense, food, and drinks left for offerings.

In fact, my late grandfather owned several traditional daggers called “Keris”, they are squiggly daggers often believed to harbor spirits and mystical attributes. Supposedly, after his death, none of my family members had any interest in maintaining them. So, one day, those daggers went missing on their own.

I remember a family member saying those daggers were probably searching for new owners since none of us bothered giving them proper care like my grandfather did, like regularly bathing them, chanting weird incantations, etc. In hindsight, somebody might’ve broken into his house and stolen them, which is a more reasonable assumption.

Folklore and Mystical Practices I’m Familiar With

What fascinates me about the winged lion is how similar he is to many entities that I knew in stories and local myths. For starters, there is one bedtime story my late grandmother had, called “Timun Mas“, which translates to The Golden Cucumber.

In short, the story goes like this. An elderly woman lives alone without a family or kids. A giant ogre comes and offers her cucumber seeds to grow. When it’s harvesting time, she only finds one massive golden cucumber, which contains a little baby girl.

She then raises the little girl to maturity. Everything is going well until the ogre comes back, asking for the girl for him to devour. Eventually, the girl and the old woman defeat the ogre by using magical trickery.

The big bad ogre knew about the old woman’s desire to have a family, even if it’s just a child. Similar to the winged lion, who answers to anyone’s wishes and desires.

Aside from folklore, malevolent practices are still common to be the talk of the neighborhood here. Employing little goblin-like spirits to steal from people, black magic to plant nails into the stomach of someone you hate, or weird deals with a demon to smoothen your business, you name it.

The Winged Lion’s Mysticism Hits Close To Home

Given the context I gave, it’s clear that mysticism is a cultural aspect that flourishes here. Personally, I don’t believe in mysticism nor do I endorse it.

However, I appreciate it as an aspect that set the culture I grew up in and for the influence it has. It’s fascinating to see traditional beliefs, or even animism, coexist with modern lifestyles.

Similar to the winged lion’s case, the cost that we need to pay each time we those types of entities is equally extortionate. Usually, it involves doing unhinged stuff, like grave robbing, killing a family member, or downright selling your soul.

Whether in folklore or reality, everyone who makes a deal with a demonic entity has a similar theme behind their motives, an overwhelming desire for something. The very thing the winged lion wants, enjoys, and devours himself, whether it’s for a quiet, happy life, or a corrupt and unnatural one.

Demons And Creatures of The Infinite

Okay, now let’s get to the winged lion from Dungeon Meshi. First thought to be a guardian entity, the winged lion turns out to be the final villain in the story.

Its origin is almost alien to the world of Dungeon Meshi. Somehow, this demon drifted into the world and started liking the abundance of desire he found.

Similar to the Daedras in Skyrim, the winged lion came from a place of infinity, much like the oblivion. It’s beyond human comprehension and left a lovecraftian impression.

Supposedly, this is the very place where ancient magic draws its power. The ancient magic itself began as summoning ritual magic to call upon this demonic being.

Hmm… considering how Marcille handles things as a dungeon lord, what would Phinis Gestor say? Would he be proud of Marcille experiencing such power, or would he make her an example of how not to draw power from the unknown?

Nonetheless, the winged lion’s manipulative tendency and his sophisticated yet unnerving nature feel out of place for Dungeon Meshi, fitting for an intelligent horror.

A Curious and Ambiguous Demon

Speaking of intelligent horror, a theme I found to be prevalent in creatures like the winged lion is they have a completely different moral compass.

In fact, the first things the winged lion expressed when he began feeding his body to bugs were curiosity and amusement. He even observed and experimented with various types and sources of desires.

It’s a great parallel to the main characters in Dungeon Meshi. At first, Laios’s group only amateurishly experimented with low-level monsters.

The taste of monster cuisine to Laios is the taste of desire for the winged lion. A door to an untouched culinary world. Although, it’s obvious the winged lion’s eating journey is something more sinister to us.

Furthermore, there is a degree of intense fixation that the winged lion shows. Over time, his greed and fixation on human desire made him more and more human-like. However, feeding on desires is much like consuming drugs which will never satiate his bottomless stomach.

The Winged Lion’s Desire To Eat Desires

The winged lion’s motive is a perfect fit for this trope. Setting someone up by making them a dungeon lord, then flooding them with thoughts of their own desires.

Then, when the person’s amalgamation of desire is ready to be served, the winged lion devours it. I love how Dungeon Meshi treats the act of eating. It’s our primary need as living organisms. But, we eat not just to stay alive, we also do that for enjoyment.

For something like the winged lion, his obsession with eating desires doesn’t stem from physiological needs. Instead, it’s pure greed and joy-seeking. I wonder what does it mean as a metaphor?

Perhaps, overindulgence in consumerism? Or could it be that the pursuit of infinite happiness leads to a bottomless pit of greed. I begin to sound like an English teacher, don’t I?

A Banquet Of Desires

For the winged lion, the stronger the desire, the tastier it is. It leads to him marinating whoever the dungeon lord is as long as possible before eating their desire.

The most desirable are people with strong desires. We see every single character who becomes a dungeon lord in Dungeon Meshi has quite the issue.

First off, Thistle has an enormous dedication to King Delgal and the kingdom. He’s a complex character with his whole duality of insanity and noble cause. I think he deserves his own appreciation post.

Second, it’s Marcille with her mission of making all race’s lifespans the same. Judging by her reasons and background, it’s a very sympathetic desire. We watched Frieren, and we know how lonely it can be to be alone with dead friends.

Now, let’s look into Mithrun’s background. The reason he ended up as a dungeon lord is rather disheartening. Captain Mithrun was born with physical features like silver hair, silver eyes, and pointy long ears. He was a walking elf beauty standard.

However, he often compared himself to his brother, who had none of that. And the fact that Mithrun was a result of his parent’s affair only made him even more troubled. The final straw for him was a vision of his brother getting chummy with a girl he liked. This is when the demon got hold of him.

And finally, we have Laios’s love for monsters. Laios’s passion for monsters is probably similar to some of ours in anime. It’s no wonder that his love has grown so strong because he has taken an interest in monsters since childhood. To the winged lion, desires like Laios’s are the ones that taste the best, maybe similar to years-old wine.

Ask And You Shall Receive, With A Catch

It’s a popular trope in fiction to have an entity that grants wishes. Often times, it’s a genie, a demon like we have here in Dungeon Meshi, or someone coming from the future. Technically, that makes Doraemon a futuristic cat genie, doesn’t it?

Also, we can’t ignore the tale Aladdin, originally from 1001 Nights or Arabian Nights. Whether it’s Disney’s depiction or the original story, it shows the power a genie holds.

Granting whatever wishes we desire sounds pretty overpowered. So, it’s no wonder with great power, comes a great cost.

I mentioned the cost of involving oneself with these kinds of entities can be life-draining. In the winged lion’s case, it’s literally life-draining. Just like how Captain Mithrun and Thistle experienced.

The Consequences Of Being A Dungeon Lord

What happens when you don’t have any desire in life? Dungeon Meshi gives a lot of hints of its reality by showing us how Thistle behaves.

But, Thistle’s out-of-control obsession with Delgal and maintaining the kingdom is only one of the side effects, though. The real downside of being a dungeon lord, in my opinion, is associated directly with the winged lion.

For example, he constantly pushes desires on you. Just like what Marcille experiences when she becomes a dungeon lord. Imagine being isolated, alone, only with your thoughts of what you want frequently appearing in your mind. In a way, it’s a torture.

Furthermore, what’s more horrifying is those desires only end up as a meal for the winged lion at the end. And, as Dungeon Meshi reveals in the manga, he rarely leaves anything on the plate.

That’s exactly what happened to Mithrun. In the present time of Dungeon Meshi, the only thing that’s keeping him alive is his desire to get revenge on the demon.

In the end of the story, Captain Mithrun actually doesn’t have a single desire remaining after the demon’s defeat. A pretty miserable state to be in if we think about it.

The Dungeon And Unchecked Desires

The winged lion, him leading people into becoming a dungeon lord, and the concept of looking for fortune in the dungeon share a theme with a lot of mystic practices.

Especially, those which appeal to human greed and unchecked desires. Dungeon Meshi’s underlying theme seems to be “be careful or what you wish for.” Although, it’s very well hidden beneath the whole monster-eating premise at first.

As Senshi and Captain Mithrun remarked in the manga. The dungeon seems to give what we want. But, any dungeon explorer must be careful not to ask for too much.

Wanting something and paying unimaginable consequences is a trope of its own. For example, the tale of King Midas and his golden touch. He wants gold so much, that he wishes for everything he touches to become gold. He completely misses, at one point, it will backfire, costing him his loved ones.

Another example is a short story called “The Monkey’s Paw” W.W. Jacobs. The first wish Mr. White asks is for him to get a mere 200 pounds worth of money. Unfortunately, it comes as compensation for his son’s death in the company where he works.

How Physical Limitation Enriches Their Demonic Story

A mysterious entity sealed in an object is not unheard of in anime or other media. Like, the isekaid as objects animes, jinchuriki in Naruto, or (god forbid) the Meridia’s beacon in Skyrim.

Similarly, there are countless myths associated with certain objects containing otherwordly entities. For example, the traditional “Keris” daggers that I mentioned.

However, the key difference in the winged lion case is he’s locked within Thistle’s books involuntarily. And, he’s unable to wield his full power while still under Thisle’s captivity.

It has to be its own trope, right? Unfortunately, I was unable to find the name of this specific trope. There are similar other tropes that use objects to lock in a part, or a whole entity, like a horcrux in Harry Potter. But, I don’t feel it’s the same as the winged lion’s case.

Its Root In Animism

The concept of an object containing a mystical being is not something new in the history of human culture. Animism is especially deep-rooted where I live. The practice of animism usually involves believing an object has its own sentience or harboring an entity with a sentience.

However, in fantasy fiction like Dungeon Meshi, authors can freely depict the interaction between these objects and the characters. So, we can have something as witty as the winged lion or others that typically have a more sacred vibe in them.

The appeal of animate objects in fiction can take form in various ways. In Dungeon Meshi’s case, Marcille’s obsession and pursuit of Thistle’s books which later turns out to have the winged lion.

Conclusion On The Winged Lion Character

The winged lion is an interesting character, to say the least. His arc and other similar tropes involving wish granting tell us a message that we should be aware of what we desire.

Desires can be our driving life force. But, it can be our end too. The winged lion is a great personification of how malicious an unchecked desire can be, though it proclaims no evil for us.

Also, it’s a reminder of a Japanese idiom Laios said in the early episode, “a duck comes bearing a leek.” This idiom roughly means there is no way a good thing will happen after another.

Asking the winged lion to grant our wish is like taking a shortcut to obtain what we want. He drives the question, is it really worth it to impose our desire onto others though the cost is immense? If our desires can be reached with hard work and patience, is it worth the trouble of involving a demon?

The winged lion is a depiction of a longstanding trope in various folklore and legends, a demonic entity who grants wishes. I’d love to hear about my readers’ experiences with traditional mysticism and animism if you’ve ever seen one.

Nonetheless, his character is written marvelously, with wittiness, mysticism, and compelling characteristics sprinkled among his primary role as an antagonist in Dungeon Meshi.

https://seinenrider.com/2024/06/30/the-demon-who-grants-wishes-in-dungeon-meshi/

#animeTropes #CharacterAnalysis #deliciousInDungeon #DungeonMeshi #fantasy #TropesInAnime #Winter2024

So, Dungeon Meshi just finished its first season, huh? I started binging the anime right after Frieren ended. And boy, it didn’t disappoint.

Dungeon Meshi first came off to me like the usual fantasy anime, what I expected was something more like Danmachi. But, its lightheartedness despite the story’s initial premise quickly changed that impression.

This anime quickly grew on me. The characters feel grounded and realistic without reducing their fantastical feel. Like Marcille, for example. Marcille has a magical expertise similar to most elves in anime, but she is way more relatable.

Simply said, I fell in love on how nuanced the characters in Dungeon Meshi are. Especially, after a few episodes watching my two favorite characters, Senshi and Laios.

I love how detailed Laios gets when he rambles about the biology and behavior of monsters. It reminds me of a TV show I watched as a kid where they explained animals and their habitats.

I enjoyed those types of show, because they awaken your inner nerdy tendency, while being informative and fun at the same time. Dungeon Meshi did exactly that.

How Laios is when explaining the monsters in the dungeon alwasy put a smile on my face. To add to that, how the anime integrates his knowledge and Senshi’s cooking, it’s perfection.

Seeing the anime’s approach on world building and its lack of hesitation in presenting how things work in the dungeon was simply fascinating.

Okay, before we go into what I’d like to talk about in this post, let me address one criticism I’ve heard about Dungeon Meshi. There are people who complain about this anime, saying it has too much exposition. They say it’s a whole cooking recipe being read out loud.

Well, we don’t like it when a show is all talk without showing the subject being talked about, do we? It feels like you’re forced to read when all you want at the moment is to watch.

However, Dungeon Meshi doesn’t fall into this pitfall. If anything, the visual presentation of the food and the monsters serve us as the audience pretty well. There won’t be a thing anyone could use to convince me otherwise.

Also, I think anyone who drops this anime because they think it’s too boring hasn’t paid enough time and attention until a certain point. My first thought about Dungeon being a casual funny anime was blown away by how plot-heavy this anime really is.

Especially, the whole part involving Laios and his sister, Falin. What happens between these two simply elevates Dungeon Meshi from something you watch to get a laugh to something we might consider as a classic in the future. And today, I’d like to give a spotlight to Falin.

The Sibling Trope And Falin Touden’s Character

A disclaimer, I am currently an anime-only Dungeon Meshi fan. Admittedly, I feel a strong urge to go to the local bookstore and buy the manga right now.

Okay, now let’s talk about Falin Touden, Laios’s sister. I would never guess the Falin we last saw on the last episode is the same one we first saw on the first episode.

While writing this post and thinking about her character, there are some things that came across my mind. First, her death. It’s a focal point in the anime, and it becomes our Laios and his group’s prime motivation.

In fact, Dungeon Meshi started with Falin sacrificing herself to save Laios from the red dragon’s jaw, didn’t it? A sibling who wants to save/protect the other sibling. It’s a common trope yet hardly ever fail in anime.

Exhibit A: Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko in Demon Slayer. Also, in Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward was willing to gave up his arm to get Al’s soul. And, of course, Itachi refusing to kill Sasuke in Naruto, although their relationship ended up complicated.

It seems that the sacrificing oneself for another is a major theme in Dungeon Meshi. Especially when it comes to protecting somebody we care about, like a sibling.

Then the second thing is Falin’s overall character. We got to know how Falin is as a person, mainly from Laios and Marcille’s flashbacks. She is talented, a kind soul, and adventurous. A literal angel for a few other characters in the anime, am I right, Toshiro-sama?

Yet, she was shunned by her village because she’s able to communicate with ghosts, lagged behind in school, and a bit awkward.

So far, there is nothing too strange about her. At first, I expected her to be a solid background character who has a significant role later on. And boy, by the time I got to the end of episode 11, I was right, but wrong at the same time.

Dungeon Meshi Tricked My Gullible Brain Cells!

Episode 11 and 12 where Laios finally found and rearranged Falin’s remains was gutty, gruesome, and going by the vibes of Marcille’s totally not forbidden magic, it was heartbreaking. Although, her ancient magic left a bad taste, especially for Chilchuck I reckon.

However, I have to side with her here. After all, as Phinis Gestor in Skyrim said, “Necromancy, as any other type of magic, is a tool to be used. Of course, non-mages may not see it that way, so we don’t go around flaunting it.”

I thought this was the darkest point in the anime. After all, it’s a gourmet anime where we get to experiment with unfamiliar and wacky ingredients for our food, right? (The answer is no. And this poor little guy had his jaw dropped, again, by the time he watched Senshi’s episode.)

People that I know who already read the manga said to me, this is where the REAL Dungeon Meshi starts. I was too innocent not to foresee how Falin would end up. She was turned into a dragon/harpy-like chimera (quick flashback to Nina Tucker), by Thistle, the lunatic magician.

And even worse for Falin and Laios, we started with the premise of the Touden siblings wanting to protect each other. And now, they had to kill each other, willingly or not. Man, not only the food, but the story, and the twist. People weren’t kidding when they say Dungeon Meshi is a top tier anime.

Give Falin A Break!

As I rewatched this particular episode, I thought to myself, Falin really couldn’t catch a break, could she? When she was a kid, people avoided her. At school, not everyone was keen to be friend with her. Now into her adulthood, a dragon munched her like a snack, and then she got turned into a dragon herself.

Much to the Laios and the others’ horror, and the rest of us too, what happened to Falin was a complicated soul binding process, not just combining the red dragon’s body with a human.

However, at one point, Senshi made an excellent analogy. Izutsumi is in a similar situation, but she retains her conscience unlike Falin. Falin’s and the red dragon’s souls are like a sunny side up on a bacon, while Izutsumi’s is like a scrambled egg.

Right now, Falin’s soul is merged with the red dragon, but the one who is under the lunatic magician’s control was the red dragon. So, there is a chance we can separate the two, if we get rid of the dragon part, hence Senshi’s sunny side up analogy.

However, the solution they came up with was also wild. In this dungeon, monster meat that has been digested by creatures loses its identity and thus can’t be used to resurrect or to create another creature. So, for now, the only solution seems to be eating Falin’s dragon parts until it’s only her human soul that’s left.

What happens to Falin feels so unfair. Maybe, it’s the anime successfully making me sympathetic towards her character. But, I can’t help to notice a trope where a good-natured person suffers an unfair circumstance in life.

The Sacrifice Tropes

What happened to Falin remided me about two common tropes involving sacrifices. What I’m talking about are the sacrificial lion and the sacrificial lamb tropes. Both of these are quite similar to each other.

The most defining and simple difference between the two is a sacrificial lamb often times serves as a proof of how the villain is a one hundred percent bad guy, especially when it involves death of a character.

Characters who fall into this trope mostly are non-essential to the plot. Their death counts not as a turning point but to showcase that the villain is indeed a bad guy.

Like a random cute dog the villain kicks for no reason. However, sometimes it’s also a more plot-relevant character who has a meek and timid personality.

Also, there are instances where a good-natured character has to go through some hardships, not necessarily death, albeit not voluntarily. Just like what happened to Falin when Thistle got to her.

On the other hand, the sacrificial lion is much more impactful. Their death or their demise stirs up the story, but also can be an important point where a new arc starts.

More importantly, the sacrificial lion is often a critical character or even one of the main characters. This is how I felt when I first saw Falin’s death, her resurrection, and her eventual transformation.

Her first death sets the first half of settings and motivation in Dungeon Meshi. It makes the moment when Laios killed the red dragon felt like it’s his final destination in the story.

Moreover, what Falin did was out of courageous intent to protect his brother, making her the very definition of a sacrificial lion. Same thing with how Laios was willing to lose a leg in an attempt to defeat the red dragon. It shows their dedication to protect and save each other no matter what the cost is.

In addition to the Touden siblings, Senshi’s dwarf mining crew was also big on the idea of protecting the younger one in the group. So much so, that I think Senshi internalized this idea deeply as he grew older, and then became a caretaker for Laios’s group himself.

What Makes Seeing Someone Makes Sacrifices In Stories Feels Good

Okay, this post can only be so long before it becomes an essay assignment my professors often gave to his class. Let’s wrap it up by examining what’s the real appeal of these two tropes.

For all the history of literature around the world, from various culture, we have many stories of heroic sacrifice. How the Touden siblings were willing to put themselves in harm for each other mirrors this theme.

Especially, when it comes about the sacrificial lion trope. The Toudens exhibit not only self-lessness, but also total commitment to make sure the other one is safe and sound.

The appeal of tropes which include heroic sacrifice has been ingrained in our brain for a long time. I think there are several reasons to this. First, we seek inspiratoin from others, even fiction.

The thought of making a real-life sacrifice that comes with risk, be it financial, or social, can be terrifying at times. Even when we know what we want to do is right.

Seeing someone else doing it might be just the push that we need, even if it’s a fictional character. Think of the trend of saying, “It’s what hero Himmel would do.”

Himmel even inspired an anime fan who stopped a knife attack in Taiwan. That is an excellent example of the sacrificial lion trope in real life, risking his life for the safety of others. That is how powerful inspiration can be.

Second, it’s empathy and sympathy. When we watched Laios’s and Marcille’s flashbacks, I found it to be way easier to share the same feeling because how Falin went down is presented in the anime.

Falin is a likeable character. However, her death elevates memories of her to the point of more than remembering another person. There is a feeling of longing and loss mixed up in between. Especially, for Marcille and Laios, when Falin’s met her death before she teleported them out of the dungeon and saved the whole party.

I don’t think tropes revolving around sacrifice will go old anytime soon. If anything they will likely stay forever since they are genuinely have interesting nuances and are great storytelling tools. How abuot you? What does make the characters in Dungeon Meshi sticks to you the most?

https://seinenrider.com/2024/06/21/falin-touden-and-themes-of-sacrifices-in-dungeon-meshi/

#2024 #Anime #animeTropes #DungeonMeshi #FalinTouden #TropesInAnime #Winter2024

Anime, at one point of time, would put you at the low-end of the social status ladder. Before being nerdy and geeky was cool, pretty much anyone who watches anime were clumped up into “the people who reek of weirdness.”

This put anime lovers into an inevitable lonely space, if there’s nobody who’s as passionate as they were. On the positive note, watching anime is becoming more and more mainstream, with old fans receiving the embrace that they deserve, and new anime fans diving into the hobby without the seclusion the older generation experienced.

Coincidentally, NEETs are among the people with the most experience with isolation. It’s true that this phenomenon is a tragic and sad one. However, I think there is a profound experience about loneliness that only NEETs experience. What is it like to be cast out, exactly? How does it feel?

It just happens that I recently finished reading a classic book, written more than a century ago, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. This book genuinely made me flabbergasted. Not only because of the tragic story, but also because of how Kafka described his protagonist, Gregor Samsa, and his despair in life.

This post might not the typical anime review or trope talk that I usually do. However, the book has many attributes that resemble the current condition of loneliness in today’s society, including what we occasionally see in anime. So, what exactly are they?

How Kafka’s The Metamorphosis And NEETs In Anime Depict Abandonment

In the early days of college, I learned about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In short, people work and put effort to attain a certain level of security in some aspects in their lives. After they achieved what they require, they move on to something else that they want.

On top of this pyramid of motivation, there’s the self-actualization state. It’s where we get to define what we are in this world. Maybe some of us are superb with instruments, and thus you define yourself as a musician. Others might be so great at sport, so they decide to dedicate their life as athletes.

However, let’s say hypothetically everyone suddenly loses their hearing, or we get paralyzed out of nowhere. Yes, everyone would suffer from it. But, the ones who would take the most harms are those who depends on these senses, not only financially, but also as a human being.

In The Metamorphosis by Kafka, this is exactly what happens. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist, found himself suddenly turned into a giant bug-like creature. It means he’s no longer able to work, he’s no longer able to provide for his family, and he no longer can be the hardworking salesman for his boss. From that point, all the meaning in his life is gone, just like how most NEETs perceive their lives.

Gregor Samsa And Modern NEETs

Gregor Samsa, gradually finds himself to be more and more miserable in the book. Both because of his own self-inflicted hate that he can’t bring in money for his family, and also because of his repulsing new form. Locked in his room, starved, and lonely, sounds familiar?

Yes, it’s an oddly familiar theme in isekai anime, especially where the protagonist is a NEET. The true terror that Gregor Samsa invokes doesn’t come from his bug-like appearance. But rather, it’s the abandonment that his character experience. The man who was once the sole breadwinner for his family, now he is nothing but a shame and must be hidden.

A shame and must be hidden? Well, isn’t that what a lot of recluse feel nowadays. I don’t know about you, but in this day and age, I feel like people not only become more and more drawn to their online presence. We want to be acknowledged for what we post on our Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, or on WordPress websites just like I do.

However, ask any older person out there who was born before Google was a thing. They’ll tell you, things were drastically different socially speaking. People in a town knew each other, we spoke to strangers in public just to say hi, we asked for directions. And, most importantly, there is no online job market, or online dating, that’s for sure.

On top of that, the common talks among my younger generation is how “rat-racey” this world feels, if that’s even a word. People compete for work against each other more intensely, we care so much about our personal branding and compare it to the next person on our social media recommendation.

So, if so happens you’re one of these NEETs, of course you’d feel the plummeting of your self-esteem. And when we reach our lowest point, we either become someone’s memory or filled with so much hatred to the world. When there’s no reason for you to love the world that seems to smack you like the bug you’re, despair and hatred becomes cultivated.

Their Similarities And Difference

Similarly, it’s what a lot of NEETs have to live with, both in the real 3D world and the fictional anime world. They might not turn into a literal insectoid abomination, but the isolation and the psychological torment they go through are quite reminiscence of each other.

The only difference between Gregor Samsa and NEETs protagonists is Gregor actually had a purpose before his unforeseen transformation. On the other hand, most NEETs in anime are depicted as someone who already lost their hope long before their lives even started.

The main similarity, however, is how they eventually got abandoned by their closed ones. Even in real life, this might also be true. It may sound harsh, but have you ever thought how many people would leave you if you stop giving whatever you are providing them? Or, if you never provide them with anything of value at all? Will they still love you?

At a first glance, both the book and the whole NEET protagonist trope in anime sound like a overly complicated “would you still love me if I were a worm?” question. But, realistically, a lot of people ended up on the streets, either after they got abandoned or their family broke up. And, to end your life in such state, that must feel so horrid

The Eventual Betrayal By Loved Ones

Kafka’s The Metamorphosis ending is one of the most horrifying endings I’ve come across in fiction. Spoiler alert, after a few months, Gregor’s family is forced to cut corners to get by. His elderly parents have to start working again, and they have to rent out a part of their home.

Gregor’s sister becomes increasingly hostile toward him, despite the fact she was the one who took care of him after his sudden transformation. In the end, everyone let out a breath of relief when they find Gregor’s lifeless body one morning.

This ending immediately reminds me of the protagonists’ death scenes in isekai anime. How many of them do you think are mourned by their family? In a similarly morbid situation in real life, of course, people would mourn their family members, even if the deceased had nothing much going on in their lives.

However, it’s not out of the question that they’ll just be buried and forgotten. This is what happens in the book, and I suspect it’s also what happens in Mushoku Tensei to Rudeus’s previous self. It might the morbid thing we, as anime fans, overlook in anime. Still, in my humble opinion, being abandoned even after death must be one of the most morbid things that can happen to a human being.

Personally, this is the part that broke my heart the most. Having an author just bluntly telling me if a person were a bug, no one would love them. They would become a burden to their families, a shame, an abomination. When they eventually died, it would be a blessing. Is this how our current reality now?

So… What Now?

This whole post might sound a bit depressing. The entire world sounds depressing to me to be honest after reading The Metamorphosis. This book brings me back to the reality that might have gone blurred because of how much fantasy and adventure anime has brought to my life.

There’s no power ups waiting for NEETs, there’s no harem of anime girls waiting in the afterlife. It’s actually astounding given that this book is from a century ago. However, should we dismiss anime and minimize it only to a mere wishful thinking? Of course not.

As naive as it sounds, if there’s anything that can we take from the wide variety in anime, it’s that we’ll come through eventually. Yes, life might suck, and it sucks even more if you’re a NEET. However, there are ways to make it better for ourselves. The power of friendship, caring families, or even sheer willpower, just like your classic shonen protagonist.

So, if it so happens that this post reaches out to people who consider themselves as NEETs, I’d say, don’t give up. It’s okay if people call us losers for now, it’s okay if there’s nothing worthwhile for now. However, at the very least, please reach out to someone who cares about you the most.

A good friend can go a long way. You know, like Nijika to Bocchi. Every person deserves a Nijika in their lives. Sometime, all we need is someone who shows us that we’re worthy for our existence, even if we haven’t done a single thing. If you’re not a NEET, then be a Nijika for someone, that could mean the whole world for them.

https://seinenrider.com/2024/04/03/despair-in-anime-neet-culture-and-kafkas-the-metamorphosis/

#Anime #AnimeBlogging #animeTropes #Book #NEET #TropesInAnime

Recently, I’ve been catching up on Dungeon Meshi, and I’ve been entertained by how Marcille reacts to Laios’ dietary ideas in the dungeon. Her panicky and rather frantic personality is so opposite of Frieren. As if it’s not apparent enough, each of them has their own quirks.

Frieren loves weird magic spells, procrastinate almost everything for months, and enjoy her own company. So much so, she was oblivious to Himmel’s attention years ago when they were in an adventuring party together. However, Frieren is still at least more sociable than Elda from Otaku Elf.

If we think about it, the elves in recent anime are far from the typical fantasy elves. Elves, in these past few seasons, have been receiving a new-found love in the community. Where the usual elves of fantasy world are often mystical, sacred, or even evilish in nature, what we’ve gotten so far are some of the quirkiest elves ever.

In anime and western media, they do have a bit of difference. I think anime elves are more playful compared to the other. This is true even in older anime. I finished watching Record of Lodoss War (the 1990 one) a few weeks ago, and in that anime there is the best anime elf so far, Deedlit. To me, she shows the best of a character with a charming personality blended in the typical elven myths and stories.

How Elves Are Usually Depicted Anyway?

Elves have been associated to mystical tropes since the earliest of its depiction in literature. As I was doing the research for this, what tickled me is that elves were thought to be the possible cause of a sudden twitching in an old English medical text.

The elves like we know today might be closer to those in Norse mythology. They even have terms for two contrasting type of elves, Dökkálfar (Dark Elves) and Ljósálfar (Light Elves). Just like in Record of Lodoss War with Deedlit who is a high elf, and Pirotess who is a dark elf.

Of course, modern media like anime takes inspiration from myths and folklore. But, some are more faithful to the olden legends, so to speak. For example, Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel in LOTR pretty much exudes the expected sacredness and beauty a traditional elf would have.

However, anime is more playful with their idea of elves. There are no shortage of elves with the typical anime tropes like the tsundere. Take Elga from Isekai Ojisan for instance. She’s a tsundere, but with her full name Suzailgiererzegalnelvzegilreagranzelga Elga, there is a bit of “classic mythical elf” trope in her.

Plus, she wields ancient artifact armor and weapon. Still, when it comes to today’s elves, they’re just so different from those who preceded them. Let me explain for a bit.

Today’s Elves Are Way More Relatable

Now, elves feel more like a group of people we could stumble upon anywhere, in random bars, perhaps. If anything, they are more relatable than ever. We might admire elves like Deedlit and Galadriel, but I see less way we can say, “she’s just like me” in them.

Some people are picky eaters, some are introverts who enjoy their figurines. Some would just hyperfixate on their hobby and by the time they “wake up” they’re already sixty, so are our elves in these anime I’ve mentioned.

Frieren, Marcille, and Elda are much more relatable. If we had to eat monster meat, of course, we would have the same reactions as Marcille’s. If we have lived for a thousand years, of course, we’d think of time differently, like Frieren. And for some people, spending the day the way Elda does, staying inside and not meeting anyone, sound like heaven.

What does raising their relatability do to elves? Does it simply make them more captivating to the audience? Are we taking advantage from the parasocial fans who get overly attached to the characters? Not really, in my humble opinion, making these elves more relatable means highlighting very human stories.

Humanizing The Long Ears Folk

The big thing with relatability is what kind of audience the anime is trying to bring in. We don’t live in a fantasy world, so of course, all the relatable problems will be humans problem.

Frieren touches themes of grief, death, and regret. Something heavy, yet every one of us will or have experienced them at one point in our lives. Despite that, this anime lightheartedly shows the usual daily life of hers. It adds to the relatability, after all.

By showing her not able to wake up early, fumbling the best man to ever lived, really makes her feels very human. After all, those are common issues that we have as regular people. Even if she’s supposed to be a thousand years old great mage, there is an imperfect side of her that we can all see, relate, and empathize.

Losing The Mythical Aura

There is one downside in twisting the usual elf trope. In old stories, we mostly see them shrouded in a mythical aura. Take Skyrim for example, the high elves are the most attuned with magic, thus the Thalmor often see themselves to be superior to others. The dunmer, or dark elves, have to live with a curse after the event of Oblivion. And, the wood elves are a tribe of ritualistic cannibalism lorewise. There is so much lore to discover behind the elves of Tamriel.

There is something creepy yet enticing in each type of elves in Skyrim. The feeling that I get from them is like when I first learned about the lore of Predator and the blooding ritual, especially when it comes to the wood elves. It’s something that lacks or even outright nonexistent with the relatable elves.

Maybe, this is an inevitable trade-off. When we strip the myth out of fantasy characters, they’ll appear as the human who wrote them. If there is an anime that showcases the daily life of a mythical elf, the elf would have extremely different lifestyle and culture, rendering them to sound out of touch from humanities.

https://seinenrider.com/2024/02/17/the-elves-in-todays-anime/

#Anime #Frieren #TropesInAnime #animeTropes #fantasy #Elf #OtakuElf #DungeonMeshi #Deedlit #RecordOfLodossWar

Let’s talk again about isekai. One of the most booming anime genre of all times. Aside from being a power fantasy and a further exploration of the parallel universe theme, this genre also introduced a particularly morbid trope. Yes, it’s the isekai truck.

Truck-kun is a classic choice for authors to send their protagonists to the afterlife. Seemingly, a random pick for vehicular manslaughter, isn’t it? You know, there are so many other vehicles that can make us face mortality. But yet, the truck stands tall as the superior.

So, some questions popped up in my mind. First, why a truck? Second, why do we need the event of the crash itself? Third, what’s supposed to happen after the truck?

What The Truck Represents

There are some traits about a truck that might make it the stereotypical gateway for an isekai protagonist. A truck is a relatively heavy land vehicle. The brakes, more often than not, should’ve been better than they are. After all, it requires more power to stop the heavier momentum a truck has. So, we need to understand it’s actually difficult, and rather near impossible, to stop a truck in a heartbeat.

Also, with how crowded and noisy the roads can be. We might pass off a truck just as another vehicle. There’s nothing uncommon about it. Every day, the road is full of people in their sedans, big SUVs, and also, trucks. Yet, it’s the biggest mistake we can make. We brushed them off as a part of the ordinary. So much so, we ignore the potential danger that could happen.

However, why is it so sudden? Why now? The isekai truck always comes when the protagonist least expects. But, when we pan around his life, maybe it’s the right time for a change. I’ve talked about NEETs in isekai previously. It’s arguably the lowest point someone can have in their life. So, in a way, the truck represents an involuntary change that will happen, sooner or later.

In short, the isekai truck represents an unstoppable turning point that happens out of nowhere. We can call it fate or coincidence. Nevertheless, there is something about the isekai truck that symbolizes an impactful force we can’t prevent.

You’ve Gone To Another World, But You Leave Another Behind

Weirdly enough, I actually have a personal experience on this. Back in high school, I had a friend who died because of an accident involving a truck. He was going home after school, it was just another ordinary day for him. But, out of nowhere, a truck appeared from a junction, and the next thing we knew was there’s a funeral to attend.

I learned about it the next day, the whole school was cut short. Almost everybody packed up their things, and went straight to the funeral.

Personally, I was shocked. Not just because of the sheer disbelief of what just happened, but also what we saw when we arrived. My friend’s body was mangled, twisted limbs, and all sorts of gory stuff we might expect from a horror movie. A truck did all this?

I left his funeral crying so bad. I didn’t get the chance to be closer to this guy, but I particularly cared about him. He was the typical quiet, non-social guy.

Girls would avoid him, other guys would mock him for being slightly messier than others. I gave him some pointers but, in retrospect, I could’ve said it less harshly. The only thing that I regret is that I didn’t get any chance to apologize.

Whether in fiction or real-life, death is consequential. We sometimes take someone’s life for granted. If anything, the looming possibility of someone’s demise almost never cross our minds.

When it comes suddenly like this, everything becomes clearer. What we’ve done to that person, what we think about them. So, the crash itself, both in fiction and real-life, is a wake-up call for every single of us. Sadly, a wake-up call that costs more than we thought.

The World Moves On, But We Must Deal With Loss

In isekai anime, we mostly follow his journey in the parallel world. It’s rare to see what’s going on in his original world. It’s certainly not the focus of the genre, but the reality only makes this trope more morbid.

After someone’s death, we typically spend some times to mourn. However, that mourning period doesn’t last forever. Life continues whether we like it or not. It’s not that we don’t care anymore about the loss of someone. There’s simply nothing we can do about it.

In anime, it’s fun to see the protagonist’s new adventure. At first glance, they seem to instantly accept their new life and move on. However, if only the anime spare a bit of screen time to the family they left, it’s probably a bit more bleak and realistic. Coping with the death of loved ones is, and will always be, challenging.

By ignoring this crucial aftermath, the isekai genre is missing a chance to showcase the severity of grief and loss seen from the people who love the protagonist. Suffice to say, behind all the fun adventure an isekai protagonist experiences, there is a very dark theme running down this trope.

https://seinenrider.com/2024/01/24/the-isekai-truck-is-an-especially-morbid-trope/

#Anime #animeTropes #Fiction #Isekai #TropesInAnime #Truck

Frieren is an elven mage who loves to collect weird grimoir. Who else does this? Kintaro Oe from Golden Boy. Although, he learns about other "important" knowledge. It seems they have some things in common.

#anime #animetropes #frieren #goldenboy

http://seinenrider.com/2023/11/10/the-traveling-scholar-trope-in-frieren-beyond-journeys-end-and-golden-boy/