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Discuss Amongst Yourselves - October 23, 2006

I just finished Princess Mononoke last night. Is it just me, or does every anime movie end with someone or something turning into a lethal-to-the-touch, ever-expanding, gelatinous mass that consumes everything in its path?

Comments

Anonymous said…
It's just you.

You need to watch Ghost in the Shell.

No gelatinous masses there, wot.
Anonymous said…
Oooo - we just got Ghost in the Shell for the library!

I don't think every anime movie has large gelatenous masses, but some do, some don't. Spirited Away did, My Neighbour Totoro and Metropolis didn't. And that's the extent of my experience.
Anonymous said…
These movies are simply representitive of the culture that produces them. Here is a bit of info that will shed some light on this phenomenom.

Leading Causes Of Dead In Japan:
1. Cell Phone Induced Brain Cancer
2. Ninja Attack
3. Gelatenous Mass
4. Natural Causes
Dave said…
Mike --> SO GOOD!

My only other frames of reference are Akira, (where that one dude starts expanding into a gooey, fleshy thing), and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, (which isn't technically anime but still makes with the gelatin).
Anonymous said…
The gelatinous mass is a Miyazaki hallmark (not to say fetish). One tries, and fails, to resist speculating on his taste in hentai. The ultimate weapon / all-consuming amorphous wave of destruction / mass of creeping doom / giant ravaging beast, on the other hand, is widespread in anime and Japanese sci-fi in general. This is commonly chalked up to lingering a-bomb trauma or some such, but in truth sci-fi and fantasy are fond of apocalypse the world over. The iconic appearance of this motif in the genre-defining Akira, I would contend, is the explosive dome of psychic force that bookends the picture (very a-bomb), not ameoba-Tetsuo, who is a mere sideshow next to Akira himself. The formless, all-devouring scourge in The Neverending Story is a (silly) American example. And, back when people could still be scared by monsters, there were lots of horror flicks featuring gelatinous masses (The Quatermass Xperiment, The Blob, Caltiki, The Creeping Terror, et cetera). Furthermore, I don't really know what I'm talking about.
Anonymous said…
Granted that the only Anime that stands out in my mind are Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion (albeit, I haven't seen Ghost in the Shell), I would have to say a resounding yes.

Or, per the previous comment, maybe Miyazaki has a ridiculous monopoly on anime and we should call in an antitrust attorney.
Anonymous said…
Shit...I just read Dave's comment. There was a giant blob in Akira...you're right.

Now that I think of it, there was also one in Evangelion, so the answer is definitely yes.
Beth said…
I refer to this phenomenon as a "thing touched the thing ending." As in "Ya, that movie had a thing touched the thing ending. Why the @#&! did I waste 2 hours watching that $^#%*#ing movie??!!")
Anonymous said…
Alternatively:
Your mom!

Dis!

I got nothin;.
Jay said…
Hehe. You said anime.
Mark Hand said…
Enough of this "Discuss amongst yourselves" shit, Dave. It's just a cheap, lazy way to get us to do your job, which is to entertain us. If I wanted to entertain myself I wouldn't be browsing this site, ifyouknowwhatImean.

So get off your ass and write something amusing, dammit.
Dave said…
Why so angry? This isn't the type of comment I like to encourage here? Typically, I like people to say, "WTF LOL ITS TEH FUKNG BOMB!!!!!111! OMG LOL" or "It's hard to find good sites about cheap ceiling fans. Maybe you'd like my site on cheap ceiling fans." This new criticism is strange and confusing to me.

Yeahsoanyways. True, I've been a bit negligent here. I've been sitting on a Bermuda post for about two weeks, and hopefully I'll have that up some day soon. To be honest though, I've never chucked up Discuss Amongst Yourselves without the intention to follow it up with actual content shortly thereafter. But then I get lazy or drunk, and therefore sidelined.
Mark Hand said…
I understand, truly I do. I've been blogging intermittently for 6 years now -- keyword: intermittently -- so I know.

All that aside, I just feel sad when there's nothing new from you.

(And I like posting comments, because sometimes the word verification thing makes me enter a suggestively dirty nonsense word, and that always makes me happy.)

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