I see Firefly in too many things

[timepiececlock]

So who else watched last Friday's Stargate SG1 and went

"WAAAAAHH!! SPACEPANTS! MITCHEL AND DANIEL HAVE JOINED THE REBELS TO FIGHT THE ALLIANCE! ...I bet Captain Mal was one of the people Vala screwed over in her long history of screwing people over."



... On a different note, I also watched the latest Paranoia Agent episode:


I am pleased to see that Maromi and Lil Slugger are finally being linked officially via dialogue, but I am curious at the WAY they were linked. The idea that both represent giving up or an easy escape.

I admit I found the Maromi show in last week's episode to be exceedingly creepy. All this "go to sleep" stuff... very creepy. Also, seems pretty out of character for audiences and the common people to love it so much, given the Japanese culture, which places high value on having a work ethic. But then again nothing about this is supposed to be normal.


I know we're almost nearing the end. Are the last episodes going to be especially horrific or creepy? At all? Because I must admit, PA has disappointed me on that end. It's impressed me on others-- the show is smart, wacky, weird, and oddly funny and perverse at the same time. I respect the writers quite a bit.

However, when I first started watching I had fans who'd already seen it tell me it was exceedingly creepy, and more than one told me they'd seen more disturbing stuff in PA than appears in any other anime they've watched, and some of them had watched many of the same things I have.

I find that odd. Sure, there were some creepy things. But overall, the creepiest things have been the father who was videotaping his underage daughter (eww), and the guy who was having sex with the prostitute while surrounded by shoujo/magical-girl anime action figures, whom he was talking to while having sex. And both of those things are pretty tame. We didn't see the father abuse his daughter, and although what he was doing was horrible and filthy, the daughter was able to end the situation immediately, and it never got the chance to escalate to something physical.

I just happen to find the atrocious abuse and "murder" of a four year old by her father in the name of scientific experimentation to be a little more emotionally disturbing. And I find the old man in the early episodes of Monster, the one that was raising the kid that Tenma rescued, to be equally as creepy as the father in PA, if not moreso. This old guy wasn't preying on the kids in orphanage sexually (that we know of) and wasn't videotaping them, but he was regularly beating and abusing them almost like it was indentured servitude.

Anyway, I just feel kinda disappointed that PA isn't as creepy and disturbing as I was led to believe it would be. Although there are disturbing things here, none of them are new ideas to anyone who's ever watched a cop show or read a horror novel. And really, what creepyness I get from this series always ends up comming from stuff like Maromi, not from the twisted things some of the characters do.

If anything, I feel bugged that no one told me it would be so funny.

Comments

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

Anyway, I just feel kinda disappointed that PA isn't as creepy and disturbing as I was led to believe it would be.

Was I one of those people? I don't remember saying it was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen. I was into it because it didn't follow a normal pattern, of any type of series, and it was kinda Lynchian in make-up and execution. Things never fully clicked until the last two episodes, but I'm not saying it ALL made sense to me in the end. I definitely have to rewatch it more than twice.

Monster is more disturbing true, psychologically. I dunno if you've made it to a certain point, but I have an issue with finger mutilation, and I actually had to look away AND turn my sound off because I couldn't handle this scene. I was like, "Fuck knowing what they're saying, I CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS."

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten that far in Monster yet, actually. I stopped to make my way through Gungrave first while I had access to the dub from our cable package.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Was I one of those people? I don't remember saying it was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen. I was into it because it didn't follow a normal pattern, of any type of series, and it was kinda Lynchian in make-up and execution.

I don't think so, most of that came from my time on the AS board. But I think your comparison to Lynch might have indirectly supported this idea in my preonception.

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to be the source of your monumental letdown. S'why I ask.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Dun worry about it. It wasn't really "monumental"... you'll note I used the phrase "kinda disappointed."

A monumental let-down was what happened today when I realized we had left over dark chocholate cake, but no milk to drink with it.

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

when I realized we had left over dark chocholate cake, but no milk to drink with it.

Man, that does suck.

Either way, I'm happy you watched it. :D

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

It's definitely the most interesting anime I'm watching on a weekly basis. :) I like it, and even though I don't understand all of it, I get the strong impression that there's an overall point to most of it, and I just have to wait and see.

It's been radically different than what I expected on almost every level-- and in most instances it's a positive surprise. I wouldn't say this is my favorite genre of anime or storytelling, but it's definitely drawn me in and taken me for an enjoyable ride. And heck, I'm a sucker for meta stuff. The whole Maromi tv animation team episode was one big meta trip, as was the RPG episode.

Plus, the consistancy in animation is damn impressive.

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

The whole Maromi tv animation team episode was one big meta trip, as was the RPG episode.

I loved the TV series episode. Maromi explaining the various jobs. It was not only entertaining, but informative. The RPG ep and the three (what I believe are) ghosts running around, trying to commit suicide are a couple of my favorites. Not necessarily the BEST, but I watched them more than four times a pieces, basking in the wackiness of it all.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I liked the threesome episode; I'd enjoy watching it again. I didn't really get it at first until someone suggested they were ghosts, and then I realized they probably were people in the beginning, but actually succeeded in dying with their first suicide attempt-- the gas in the house, I think it was. And after that they were ghosts running around, and only the old man realized it.

[ninkasa.livejournal.com]

OMFG! Yes! *loves you*