Project Otaku

Working on a blog all by my lonesome isn't the easiest thing to do; the honest truth is that no one wants to blog all the time. It's fulfilling, but oh so exhausting! I've been collaborating with my friend Erica (Mrs. Blunder) on a new website, ProjectOtaku.com, where we and a few writers aim to create a genuinely friendly atmosphere for anibloggers. I'll still be blogging here at The Anime Guardians for some time, but all good things must come to an end, and Project Otaku has revitalized my interest in aniblogging for now. Check out my first post for the site, "It’s Girth, not Length, that Matters: A Celebration of Anime Shorts." 

- Nelson

Anime Power Rankings: A Little Bit of Fame

Hey everyone. Remember when I recently announced our summons by kevo of http://kevo.dasaku.net/ to participate in his weekly Anime Power Rankings? I checked the page out after submitting my weekly ratings and comments, and saw that the comments were posted onto the rankings page. 

For those without the microscopic vision to read what I posted, here's what it says:

Attack on Titan and Oreimo were honestly tied for me, but I had to choose one. They’re two completely different shows and fulfill different parts of my anime nutritional needs. That said, Titan had the bigger WTF factor by introducing the Titan Killing Titan (it’s probably Eren, guys). Still, Kyosuke in Oriemo was hilarious, what with his very realistic concerns as a new boyfriend. When is the best time to touch a girl’s boobs? I don’t know, Kyosuke. Just don’t get arrested on molestation charges for being too eager…

I think we're getting a little, dare I say it, famous? I think that's a fair assessment. But at the end of the day, I enjoy getting to communicate with the anime blogosphere. We have an extended family out there, bonded by the common love of Japanese popular culture. That is so cool.

- Nelson

Post-humanism in Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Innocence (2004)

After two years of blood, sweat and anime, I've finished my senior thesis, "Establishing a Post-human Identity through Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell and Innocence Films." It's about fifty pages long, plus some screencaps, sources and an acknowledgment page. In the paper, I argue that Mamoru Oshii harbors a complex view on humanity: we are both bodies and minds, and we use one aspect of that duality or both to identify ourselves in a technologically saturated post-human realm. Ultimately, we find meaning in the relationships we have with all entities as only humans can. I'll admit, the paper is a little humanistic in that I'm suggesting humans are important at all, but hierarchy shouldn't be the implied rhetoric here. I doubt I solved any of life's mysteries with my writing. In any case, this paper has been a labor of love, and I hope readers enjoy it. It is downloadable as a PDF.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/141883612/Establishing-a-Post-Human-Identity-Through-Mamoru-Oshiis-Ghost-in-the-Shell-and-Innocence-Films


Nelson Rolon
Creator of anime-guardians.com
anime.guardians03@gmail.com

This Season So Far

Things are dying down for me at college. This will be my last week as an undergraduate (WOOHOO!), and I'll soon move into the world of 9 to 5 work days and innumerable bills to pay. I'm trying to binge on as much anime as possible before those tragedies of adult life ensue. With a rare moment of solace at my disposal, I recently began keeping up with a few of the shows airing this spring season.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: After Episodes 1 - 4

While working on my senior thesis on anime cyborgs, I watched Mamoru Oshii's Patlabor OVAs and read a lot of opinions on how revolutionary his approach was. While most giant robot shows like Gundam emphasize a sense of beauteous warfare and sleek robot designs meant to catch the eye, Patlabor was not nearly as flashy, and instead focused on the human relationships that form within an increasingly technological world. Patlabor was very much about its humans, not the robots. Neon Genesis Evangelion came to mind as another show that revitalized the giant robot genre, or this is what I've heard for years now. I set out to see what those reasons were, and began watching the original Evangelion series that broke the mould. (And in case anyone notices, we already have a review on Evangelion previously written by ABC. This latest inquiry is being carried out by Nelson).

ANIME POWER RANKINGS

I was invited by kevo of Desu ex Machina to participate in his website's weekly Anime Power Rankings, where numerous anibloggers rate their favorite shows for the week and give summaries as to why. I've known about kevo's site for a long time now, so to be invited to participate is a pretty big deal for my little Anime Guardians blog. I'll be posting those rankings to this website as well, so look out for them. We're making progress slowly but surely, guys! Thanks for your support throughout the past year.

In other news, I've nearly completed my two year journey into anime cyberpunk and post-humanism, Man, Mutt and Machine. The paper's looking to be over 50 pages long, circulating around the 1995 Ghost in the Shell film and its 2004 sequel, Innocence. I'll post it for everyone to read in a couple weeks.

Finally, I've begun watching Neon Genesis Evangelion after realizing how revolutionary it was for the giant robot genre when compared to the usual Gundam fare. I'll be logging my opinions on the series in the next few days.

As college draws to a close for me, I fancy I'll have a lot more time for The Anime Guardians than I've had in a long time. Thanks for your patience, everyone.

- Nelson