Harry P

Harry P

Australian bushwacker living in South Korea. I like to travel, look, read and ponder...

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    Latest Articles

    Latest Topics

    7

    Studio Ghibli and the Perfect European Aesthetic

    Analyse Hayao Miyazaki’s use of picturesque European-inspired aesthetics in his movies. Think "Howl’s Moving Castle", "Kiki’s Delivery Service", and "Porco Rosso" – all are either inspired by 19th and early 20th century Europe, or in the case of "Porco Rosso" use real countries such as Italy in the 1930s. How does Miyazaki draw on these elements of aesthetic to create beautiful and magical settings? How does the source material, British author Diana Wynne Jones’ novel "Howl’s Moving Castle", and the real world influences of the time period, World War 1 etc, influence Miyazaki’s renditions? What does he include, what does he exclude? What is the affect of these renditions on Japanese and international audiences especially when considering Japan’s relationship with the West? You can also compare these European aesthetic/story films with the Ghibli films set in Japan, such as "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away". Plenty of questions to ask yourself when doing this article. I recommend potential narrowing down the subject to certain aspects of the aesthetic, such as subject, technology, colour etc.

    • You could also include the set design for the live stage play of "Spirited Away" and if that is catered to the audience or true to the source material. – yoderamy17 10 months ago
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    Pending

    The Impact of Time Dilation in Movies and TV

    Analyse the impact of time dilation in movies like "Interstellar" and the "White Christmas" episode in Black Mirror (There are many examples: Dr Stone is an example of an anime) where large amounts of time is skipped for the audience but is experienced by the characters. There is also the idea of suspended animation, where characters are suspended (think Avatar, Passengers) and time passes without their knowledge, meaning everyone they left behind has died. How does the passing of time impact the audience in different examples of media? How is this "trope", for lack of a better word, used effectively?

    • "Arrival" would be a great addition to the analysis as well, since its representation of the passage of time is very unique. I also would like to more about the argument this is presenting though. What does "used effectively" mean? What is the intent behind using this device and what is the goal effect on the audience? – gwyndalin 10 months ago
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    The Overabundance of Fast Media (A case study of South Korea)

    Analyse the advent of "fast media" that has become so popular in recent years – especially in fast moving societies like South Korea. I live in South Korea, and one thing I have noticed is when I get on the subway people are scrolling EXTREMELY fast as they engage in a media called "Webtoon (웹툰)". This media is like a comic book that has been specifically designed for fast digestion and optimised for access on a mobile phone. You could write an article that explores why people are interested in this kind of media (Webtoons, Youtube Shorts, TikTok etc). How does this type of media differ from longer and "slower" forms of media? (E.g. Books, traditional ways of engaging in media like with a TV or at home). You could even briefly discuss the effect this "fast" media has on the brain or mental health (stress, instant gratification and high dopamine). It doesn’t have to be only on South Korea, I’m just emersed in the unique culture and think there is enough for a case study (Think about high work hours, education system – Hagwons, generally a fast-paced society etc).

    • This is a super interesting topic and I think that an exploration of media literacy could work super well with this, and expand it to a global scale. – finnkanedom 11 months ago
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    • I love this idea! I'm definitely interested in how fast media impacts our attention span and the endless cycle of wanting faster content. It may also be worth looking at how our desire for on-the-go media is propelling this. – A.H. 11 months ago
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    • Love this idea. And the same fast media has been the very core of Chinese web fiction where word-count and length was the focus and writers were taught to speed up to the pace to maintain a sense of excitement. Personally, I believe this is the result of our shortened attention span and cognitive processing power as a result from the prevailing social media. Naturally, we are leaning toward short-form content (as they are less challenging to consume) versus traditional, long-form content, or content with higher professionalism and complexity. – Xiao 10 months ago
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    • Very interested in this! There is an essay by Xueting Christine Ni called "Net Novels and the 'She Era': How Internet Novels Opened the Door for Female Readers and Writers in China" which might be a useful reference to explore the economic and gendered conditions of content creation that favour these shorter, free (or very affordable) forms of publication. – clairegranum 9 months ago
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    The role of fillers in anime: Is there a way around them?

    Analyse the role fillers play in anime to protect long running anime series from running out of source material. Fillers in anime are used to prolong a certain stage of the anime without affecting character relationships or the main plot line. Typically, they are used when an anime series catches up to the manga it is based on, and seeks to give the manga time to "catch up". For example, Naruto Shippuden is a popular anime series that ran from 2007 to 2016. In that time 500 episodes were aired with 205 or 41% of them being considered filler. There are many examples of this (One Piece, Bleach, etc), which have led viewers skipping fillers in their pursuit of the rich storylines these series have to offer. Whether or not a viewer likes or dislikes filler episodes, skips or pushes through them, they are clearly a significant flaw in the process of anime series adapted from manga. Perhaps, it is better now? Or perhaps it is the same? What alternatives are there for writers when the adaptive material overtakes the original? Since in essence it is an adaptation, should it expand on its own? Or should producers of these large anime series go on hiatus to allow the manga to catch up?

    • This is super interesting! "Filler" happens in a lot of TV shows, mostly animated ones but not exclusively anime (though anime is certainly the most extreme filler to content ratio!). Would love to read an analysis of what it says about shows that need to insert fluff to fill out episode counts. Is it an industry problem? Do shows need to run longer than their stories are capable of carrying them? Or should everything be like the mini-series that are a few hours long and all plot all the time? Great topic :) – SBee 2 years ago
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    • I think this is changing with the internet. Now, that everything comes out instantly in seasons, it is hard to have filler. When i think of filler i think of Dragon Ball and Naruto. I wonder how long it will take until anime's start poking fun at fillers and self-aware that no one wants them. A satirical look on fillers if you will. lmaoo – Ninety-Nine 2 years ago
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    • A problem in a majority of anime. I first got fed up with Naruto because of the unnecessary fillers (but more importantly the flashbacks - do they count as fillers when done purely to increase episode length?). This topic should definitely be written soon. – rosewinters 2 years ago
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    • There is actually a pretty good brief explanation of why fillers exist by an anime itself, Gintama (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4S9NuI6NKo). But as Ninety-Nine said fillers were more of a practice/trend of old anime. It'd be interesting to explore the importance of fillers before in storytelling and how their changes (or decrease in frequency) affect current anime. – Lyka Cali 2 years ago
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    • I am definitely the type to skip filler if I can, and I wish it didn't exist. However I think in the case of anime, it essentially has to. Anime has the mostly unique problem that it is an adaption of a written work (usually one that is ongoing). Also, especially with older anime, it is done in a week to week episode format. So if the show catches up to where the original current work is, it is kind of stuck. I personally do not think they should start creating their own "cannon" content. The shows should stick to the original source material as best they can. And there are few options other than filler. An example is One Piece (my favorite anime). They basically did away with filler all together, but instead pad out episodes and fights, making the already long arcs longer. This is not a problem. The problem isn't longer arcs, it's stretched out episodes with bad pacing. But the other alternatives are the anime just stopping until there is more material to work with, or filler. A lot of Netflix anime release in seasons, waiting until there is a new arc in the manga before releasing their next season. I think this might work better. But if you are a network releasing an episode every weak, filler may be your only option. As annoying as it is, filler is somewhat of a necessary evil. – Joel Stadler 2 years ago
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    • There is an interesting overlap that I've seen and a concept that I'd like to bring up. What about the idea of "good" filler? I've heard the term thrown around about a few episodes or arcs in some Shonen series. Is filler a one hundred percent bad thing? Or do we resent filler because the filler episodes/arcs are poorly written? I think filler can theoretically be good and even elevate the show. Think about arcs in your favorite anime that don't necessarily tie into the main plot but are still enjoyable. If we accept this clause that filler can be good, now for the next question. Since filler isn't canon is it less less valuable? Hypothetically if the mangaka wrote the filler would it be filler anymore? Or a standalone anime exclusive episode? Just some things to think about. – alexpasquale11 2 years ago
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    • Filler gets a lot of hate so I think an article on why it’s used so often and what role it plays would be really interesting. However, instead of addressing ways around it…it might be better to just try and help people understand why it’s useful and why it’s in our favorite shows because a lot of it can’t really be reversed. Then again, if you have unique suggestions for decreasing its use and comparing shows like Boruto and AOT for example to analyze their difference in filler count and why that difference is so major…that’d be cool too. – edixon 2 years ago
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    • I recently wrote an article about fillers, and I think some of them are really fun to watch and aggregate value to the stories. – kondobeatrix 1 year ago
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    Latest Comments

    Harry P

    If you visit the website, the main contributors are listed (whether anonymously for safety regions or openly). Mostly, they are articles and writers that have been silenced or, in some cases, killed.

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship
    Harry P

    Because there is so much new information daily, unfortunately it does take a while to implement updates I think. That’s why it serves more as a symbol.

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship
    Harry P

    Exactly! I think beside serving a practical service, this library also serves as a symbol or grand spectacle to get attention on the issues, rather than functioning as a fully-fledged access point of information.

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship
    Harry P

    Thank you 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship
    Harry P

    I think this is a very good point. It is HUGE, and if you don’t have the required specs on your PC it would be difficult to access. Although, I suppose you could lower the graphics so you can simply get to the books without enjoying the architecture.

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship
    Harry P

    Exactly! Because everyone downloads the save file, it is literally impossible to take down.

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship
    Harry P

    Thank you! Interesting, so it was banned in North Korea only? I image it would be quite popular in South Korea xD

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship
    Harry P

    Thank you 🙂

    The Minecraft Loophole: Modern Subversion of Censorship