Understanding Disaster, Part 2: Akira and the Postmodern Apocalypse

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IMPORTANT: It has come to my attention that this is unavailable on mobile. My sincerest apologies, it's a copyright claim that's limiting me. PC should work fine.
PART 1 is here: • Understanding Disaster...
Well this took quite a while. Yo this vid's got spoilers, watch out!
Shoutouts to Cyanide Blizzard for helping me find books, cause holy moly finding stuff is tricky when it's all super expensive.
Discord (Not Mine): / discord
Twitter: / pauseandselect
Patreon: / pauseandselect
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/pauseandselect
---
Stray Notes:
- I did not monetize this video. It's been monetize by a copyright claimant
- You can read Simon Newcomb's story titled "The End of the World" here: bit.ly/1X8eRaF
- I forgot how long the manga was
- I hope people know the difference between referential and recollective. I really do, because that would save me a lot of headaches
- This can only go one way, and that's down, cause I'm talking about postmodernism and this isn't gonna be pleasant
- Definitely one of my favourite South Park episode
---
Text:
- Bolton, Christopher. "From Ground Zero to Degree Zero: Akira from Origin to Oblivion," Mechademia 9: 2014, 295-315.
- Brown, Steven. "Tokyo Cyberpunk: Posthumanism in Japanese Visual Culture," Palgrave, New York, 2010.
- Freigburg, Freda. "Akira and the Postnuclear Sublime," edited by Mick Broderick, Routledge, New York, 1996.
- Fuller, Frank. "Anime and the Atom Bomb," The Conversation, bit.ly/1RWf09c, accessed May 25, 2016.
- "Modules on Jameson," Post-modernism, bit.ly/25JRKIG, accessed June 1, 2016.
- Napier, Susan. "Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle," Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2005.
- Napier, Susan. "Panic Sites: The Japanese Imagination of Disaster from Godzilla to Akira," Journal of Japanese Studies 19 (2): 1993, 327-351.
- Paik, Peter. "Review: The Freshness of Ruins," Science Fiction Studies 42 (3): 2015, 601-604.
- Shapiro, Jerome. "Atomic Bomb Cinema: The apocalyptic Imagination on film," Routledge, New York, 2002.
- Standish, Isolde, "The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture," edited by Dolores Martinez, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1998.
- Tanaka, Motoko. "Apocalypticism in Postwar Japanese Fiction," University of British Columbia, Thesis, 2011.
- Tanaka, Motoko. "Apocalypse in Contemporary Japanese Science Fiction," Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2014.
---
Media:
- Katsuhiro Otomo's Interview: bit.ly/1RVYgz7
- Nausicaa of The Valley
- Space Battleship Yamato
- Akira
- Aldnoah Zero
- Astro Boy
- Dimension W
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Saikano
- Hunter X Hunter (2011)
- Mahouka Rettousei
- Senki Zesshou Symphogear
- Zankyou no Terror
- Huge shoutout to Michael Rogge for letting me use his footage: bit.ly/1TpaFjP
- Auschwitz Liberation Documentary: bit.ly/1ZtFyF0
- Nihon Chinbotsu / Japan Sinks
- Gojira
- The Last War
---
Note: I am forgetting quite a few, if you're the original video creator, please let me know and I will attribute properly.
---
Audio:
- Colossus Wonders, Phantom from Space, and Hand Balance Redux by Kevin MacLeod from Incompetech
- Ray Charles' "I can't stop loving you"
- Akira Soundtrack: Requiem and Kaneda

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Опубликовано:

6 июн 2016

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Комментарии : 200

@alliesofdevastation 7 лет назад

Awesome interpretation of the anime's themes! This is exactly how I see Akira through my level of analysis. This film should be included as a required assignment for critical thinking in college classrooms lol The anime itself is very difficult to understand at first, but when one learns about the events that took place in Japan's chronological history, everything starts to connect and make more sense. Thanks for the awesome video!! Definitely subscribing now.

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

@keen96 8 лет назад

This was an amazingly edited, extremely well presented and information filled video. Absolute props dude, can't wait for more content.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Thank you very much for the kind words! And thanks for the support!

@davidb5205 7 лет назад

I'm coming here by way of Nerdwriter's video (which was nothing but a bunch of bloviating and underwhelming observations). Someone recommended your analysis in the comments and I'm glad I came. This is very excellent work. Not only do I love Akira, I thoroughly enjoy learning about the historical and sociological context from which this amazing anime came about. I feel like I need to re-watch Akira through the new lens you've given me. Now, I want to check out the rest of your work. If they're just as brilliant as this was, I'm definitely subscribing. Again, really great stuff!

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Haha oh man, if you think Nerdwriter's stuff is bloviating, you might be really offput by a lot of my videos. I'm pretty much the stereotypical 'pretentious overanalyzer' as a lot of people consider me. Still, thank you very much for watching the video and giving it a chance man! I hugely appreciate it!

@davidb5205 7 лет назад

Pause and Select I don't mean bloviating in the sense that his language is too academic. I actually appreciate quite a bit of Nerdwriter's work. I just really didn't care for his Akira video specifically because he failed to justify any of his premises about the use of light in Akira. I haven't had the time to check out the rest of your video (still have it in an open tab), but this video wasn't 'bloviating' at all; it was based on a premise that I didn't see or understand at first, but you fully articulated your ideas and presented in a credible way. Then again, it's all subjective, haha.

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Ahhhh, gotcha, fair enough. I had similar concerns with his Akira video as well. I think it's a little unfocused, but I'm willing to concede to its strategic value if it at least gets people to think about Akira. The act of people disagreeing with him in the comments seems to foreground that.

@pallavrajpatra9985 2 года назад

Nerdwriter is good. But I'm glad someone is calling him on his shit. He does do that,doesn't he?

@Suitswonderland 4 года назад

The medicine in Akira reminded me of pregabalin, the reaction without the medicine and the effect that happen once you stop taking pregabalin were never experienced on anything else (I gave up benzos and Opioids also)

@dagon99 11 месяцев назад

Good for you.

@erato4362 8 лет назад

I absolutely loved the use of music with the montage of atomic warfare, it had me chuckling way too much at how clever it was. Keep up the good work!

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Cheers, thanks!

@trey_nation 8 лет назад

Very well done. It blows my mind that content this good has less than 3,000 subs.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Thank you very much for the kind comment man!

@joemuis23 7 лет назад

i think it might have to do with his videos often using less common vocabulary more specific in meaning, although with this series i have had little trouble following since he mostly uses uncommon words relating to structure and animation theory. While keeping in mind English is not my native language, most anglophone anime analysis watchers are probably not familiair with words like mesostructure.

@vokoaxecer 3 года назад

@@PauseandSelect Is there any depiction of the Nanking(Nanjing) Massacre in Anime? Because of what I've read so far the Japan have just straight up denied their War Crimes.

@snake215 7 лет назад

I just completly stunned. Incredebly deep narrative that you name. Never thought this kind of deep analysis can be met at youtube. Just outstanding work!

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Thanks snake! I appreciate the kind words man!

@NineOuh 8 лет назад

You guys are fucking great. How are you not massively popular?

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Oh snap Ninouh, thanks for checking out our stuff man! I've just watched your most recent video, great stuff! And it's pretty straightforward as to why we're generally not as popular. I've come to terms with that, haha.

@RogerSmith2004 8 лет назад

Great vid! Really helped me understand disaster.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Did it really Roger?

@RogerSmith2004 8 лет назад

Yes

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Did it REALLY?

@RogerSmith2004 8 лет назад

Pause and Select I'd say so.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Okay that's cool I can live with that

@NoogahOogah 7 лет назад

Pause, you are an undiscovered prodigy. You combine all the hedonic pleasure of watching a RU-vid video with the intellectual satisfaction of reading an insightful paper. I hope you'll keep up the good work, and that more channels like yours come into vogue.

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Thanks NoogahOogah! I appreciate the (overwhelming) praise! I don't think I'm at the level you think I'm at, but I like that you like it!

@jmalmsten 6 лет назад

I remember reading a quote that essentially said that with its history of catastrophic blazing city fires, regular earthquakes and of course the firebombings of ww2 and them being the only nation yet that has survived not one but two nuclear attacks, and later on Fukushima which was basically several types of disasters rolled into one... that the japanese culture has had to come think of "cities" as something that can just up and disappear one day... And that is quite a scary thought... I think I read that in an article about why Japanese culture loves city stomping monster franchises. Generalisations are tricky though... :)

@saveusmilkboy 7 лет назад

+ Pause and Select Great video, and a beautiful channel. All props to you guys! I felt there was an additional theme in Akira which you did not touch on - a rejection of external influence. Post-war Japan was introduced to rampant capitalism under the banner of freedom. At the same time, their constitution was written by the US, their military power was limited and crippled, their lives were marked by slavery to their own economies. Japan was forced into shame, much like Germany. The rejection of old symbolism was so thorough that even today it is rare to see the Japanese or German flags in public or private spaces (although this is changing in Germany; still recall the uproar that followed Germans singing their national anthem at the FIFA world cup). It was risky to say you love your country. Akira faced off a staunch militarism against youthful rebellion, but both of these were subverted to a degree. The militarism was directed inwards, towards the people, not outwards as in WWII. Throughout the series, it failed to accomplish a single thing, being rather impotent. Meanwhile, the rebellion was meaningless, aimless, and without purpose. It is never all that clear what Kei, Ryu, and the rebel army, or Kaneda and Tetsuo's disenfranchised generation, were supposed to be protesting. When Kei and Kaneda rejected foreign help, it was a victory to senseless rebellion. The decision they made was ruins instead of what they knew was out there; a total denial that any good could come out of any of the systems on offer in the 20th century. The city around them rebuilding as they drove away from help seemed to me almost like wishful thinking. The art in the end of the manga was extremely geometric, meticulous, and utterly devoid of humanity. If anything, it looked like a hallucination, not a likely future. I thought that a central message of Akira was that sometimes even certain ruin was better than certainty.

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

This is really fascinating cause I don't see this perspective of Akira that much. This is a really cool point you make. I can absolutely see that, especially since the 50s and 60s were hugely turbulent periods.

@fullmoon808 3 года назад

i felt similarly actually. i viewed the rejection of the outside as the “newer” japanese generation rejecting their parents in a very teenage fashion. they wished to abandon tradition as they saw the flaws of their parents and grandparents generation. this abandonment of tradition and embracing of the uncertain future is what i find extremely beautiful as it encapsulates the feelings a new generation has while simultaneously and sort of hypocritically echoing japans previous isolationist doctrine. i can see how japans youth may see the problems in their past generations decisions and may want to rectify it by infusing the past (prior to the “mistake”) with their own new idealism

@Krypto137 8 лет назад

Why doesn't this have 3 million views by now? Hot damn. Your stuff is always so high quality and interesting, man. Keep it up.

@briankale4653 8 лет назад

This video dropped bombs on my mind.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

top kek

@inukimeko 7 лет назад

This series is so brilliant. It's like a documentary. Actually that part where you show clips of atomic explosions in anime playing to a really old song is something I could see in a Michael Moore film. This is the type of media I'm looking. I had to watch this twice in order to really grasp your meaning. And I will probably watch this entire series a third time. Good work, really good work.

@Vilik-nm7ry 6 лет назад

This was an excellent video, one of the best Ive seen in awhile. Thank you very much for some perspective!!!!!

@elijahblechman8633 Год назад

I know this video is a few years old but I honestly want to say how much I weirdly related to this movie on a rewatch I had before the new year and I got to say this movie absolutely captures my high school experience. All the dirt, grit and violence. I mean sure we didn't have sexual assaults or motorcycle gangs but it weirdly captures that Inner City High School vibe. I think it's really humorous to think how this was created as a warning for the future and I look back on it somewhat nostalgically. Funny enough even the timeline matches up, I graduated high school in 2020. About a year after this movie was set.

@SeryuuDark 8 лет назад

This kind of content is the reason I will always recommend your channel. Awesome work as always.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Cheers, thanks a lot man!

@MicahBuzanANIMATION 6 лет назад

Loved hearing your thoughts on this. Akira has a lot more depth to it than many people realize. So much of the depth in Akira's world is told visually, almost at a subconscious level.

@OK2BeFat 3 года назад

This channel should have way more subscribers. This video is SO good!

@ayiepersona4 8 лет назад

i've been waiting for this after part 1.. thank you for the info and the video, i enjoyed it vey much..

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

@idiotdoomspiral666 Год назад

absolutely fantastic work. instant sub

@MicahBuzanANIMATION 4 года назад

Amazing analysis of an amazing animated masterpiece.

@beyondcompute 3 года назад

Some things sound like a bit of a stretch here.

@demilembias2527 8 лет назад

The editing of this video gave me mad chills.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Nice! Thanks man!

@shahzaibraja3342 3 года назад

Masterful written and edited video.

@Yog-shi 8 лет назад

A tour de force of critical discourse! Even set apart from the greater construct of a series of videos examining the trends of apocalypse in Japan's media landscape, this was a damn good indepth look at AKIRA. I see that I have a backlog of videos of videos to watch, I can only hope that once the well runs dry you will continue to construct artful analysis such as this. On the technical side of things: Thanks for having the music at an audible level that doesn't detract or distract from your voice.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Thanks man! I try to keep audio levels good, so thanks for the kind words!

@rainfire2457 3 года назад

OMG I literally watched Metropolis yesterday and you included the song in this videooooo

@julianwalker9782 6 лет назад

This is very fulfilling. Thank you

@dragonwarriorz1 7 лет назад

You seem to be getting this a lot in the comments but wow are your videos so informative and mindblowing. I'm very excited to check out your other videos on some of my favorite anime

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Ahahaha yeah but I appreciate the support. Thanks for watching HikariJake!

@andregordon2599 3 года назад

Very well done, but i would also throw in that Akira has a sort of Brechian Expressionism added in. Also, your description of the Japan around the time Akira was written is true, though i would throw in some more of the economic and classist forces in there too.

@botero01 7 лет назад

Great videos, nice to see serious academic discourse, what you get in mechademia etc, appear on youtube. I wonder what you think about the Rebuild of Eva films, or the recent Godzilla. MAN the recent Godzilla feels so huge to me. I mean, such a furious thing. It´s like, the even that tips you over the edge you know? The way life and time feels now, how it´s just one time, one moment where all meaning smashes against itself in the void, really angry. When you see Godzilla destroying USA bombers above Tokyo, but then also burn the city with radioactive fire and kill the prime minister...Such a wonderful and confusing scene. What you articulated here in this video, made that sense of timelessness click into my mind.

@kennymetz187 4 года назад

Wow this content is amazing, the quality is insane. You know if this was on glass reflection it would have 10 million views. You should ask him to post or recommend this series on his channel. You need to get the word out, maybe do a reupload

@bluesandroots2008 7 лет назад

Ray Charles and mushroom clouds. Great mix. Very inspirational.

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Haha! Thanks Satoshi!

@vaneyck8186 3 года назад

great videography,great video, Art.

@_Digishade_ 8 лет назад

Awesome. Can't wait to see how Eva fits into your analysis, as it's definitely bound to be important as a compare/contrast to Akira.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Next part is gonna be...tricky, I'll say that, haha.

@JJ-ls6el 7 лет назад

Putstanding editing, and narration, you need more subs

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Oh ok.

@MonoReaper 8 лет назад

So much knowledge. I love it!

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Thank you very much for the kind words man!

@CyanideBlizzard 8 лет назад

I dare say your strongest video to date. Incredibly enjoyable, and very thought provoking. I'm really excited to see where things go after this!

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

You're wrong, my Dagashi Kashi video is my strongest - did you know that show is about candy?

@CyanideBlizzard 8 лет назад

Pause and Select Just when I think I've got everything figured out, you come along and show me that I don't. I don't know how to live anymore.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Cyanide Blizzard ...uh, topkek?

@CyanideBlizzard 8 лет назад

Pause and Select You would laugh at that, wouldn't you?! Fight me in Ultimax!

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Cyanide Blizzard Come at me bro

@markwill3515 5 лет назад

this is soooooo complex. great vid!!! not sure i understand it all.

@AnimeCommander1 8 лет назад

Glad you did a video on Akira. As an anime it has a significant historical impact on the direction the anime industry and thus the fandom was going. It helped create a renewed interest worldwide about Japan and anime. Despite that of course, Akira was never able to break even with its' budget and it essentially bankrupted the studios working on it. In a way, that does foreshadow what would happen to Japan in the 90's sorry to say. Part 3 is going to be a tearjerker to watch but it is already a foregone conclusion for those that know it, including myself. All I will say is "Death and Rebirth" would be an appropriate metaphor for what happens in that time.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Man, hopefully you and I are thinking of the same thing, other Part 3 will gonna get awkward, haha. But yeah, it's kind of a shame with Otomo's work in general. They're always so high quality but they never do well. Metropolis and Steamboy later on follow the same general pattern.

@AnimeCommander1 8 лет назад

Pause and Select Considering how 1989 went for Japan and the following decade which is kind of a polarizing decade for Japan. I have a good idea of what the next part could be about also considering the anime that aired in that decade. Since anime in a specific decade is "just as good as a mirror" so to speak. I never saw Metropolis but I did see Steamboy. It definitely was an amazing work of animation but it is a shame it didn't make up for its massive budget. Those kind of high budget anime movies are pretty amazing, but they are absolutely too much for anime studios. Anime studios just don't have the right structure to back it all up.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

That's absolutely true. Very hyped about covering the upcoming time period, it's just that there's so much to read, goddamn, haha. And condensing that into a palatable but still 'accurate' description for a general audience is tricky. Still, very excited about it! You should definitely check out Metropolis. Otomo's writing is similar to Roujin-Z and Akira, but it's as grand as Akira and as focused as Roujin-Z. I also have a video on Metropolis, so this may or may not be a less than subtle way to try and promote another video I made, haha.

@AnimeCommander1 8 лет назад

I wouldn't be surprised if you had to do another separate video series on that time period just to fully cover the "general" ideas. Definitely a big decade for Japan and anime. I'd really love to try Metropolis and/or Roujin-Z but my backlog right now is a biggest concern. Too many shows that I haven't completed and I need to watch them all before considering anything else for the future. I'd like to finally have a clean slate for once :)

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

AnimeCommander1 Yeah, there's several avenues to go down, and I'm focused on one specific element, if only because I'll go insane talking about everything else happening, and (b) the broader I get, the less it becomes about just anime and I'm already pushing it, haha. The 90s are unbelievably astounding, entire books have been written on just things in the 90s, let alone the 90s themselves. Complete disengagement, and it's funny cause I am posting a sort of 'intermission' video that is a primer for Part 3.

@TheMaplestrip 8 лет назад

This video was absolutely brilliant. No complains this time. Well, alright, just one: it felt like you were repeating yourself a bit during the second half of the video as you were listing off all the subjects _Akira_ covers multiple times. That's alright, though, because I love listening to you talk and was happy with the video getting extended :p This was really great! Can't wait 'till next time :3

@TheMaplestrip 8 лет назад

Also, by the way, I was wondering, why in the world do your videos only get a few hundred views on their first day? That's a criminally low number. I'm finely going to share your videos more. I know a few people who'd be interested in anything that has the word "postmodern" attached to it.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Sure thing! I'm just happy you enjoy it! Part of the reason why I ended up listing subjects multiple times is mainly to keep the viewers latched onto the ideas. Just to keep them in mind, cause my narration can be a little quick at times. I'm glad you're cool with it! And sure thing! Postmodernism isn't something I'm a huge expert on, but I'm comfortably familiar with *it* in general. My views are relatively (there's a lot of folks with lower views than mine, so I can't really complain, haha) low simply because I think it just takes a while for stuff to trickle in. Last I recall, it took a while for my pre-Death Note videos to gain any semblance of momentum, so I don't mind.

@BlainePace 8 лет назад

Really cool content. Subbed.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Thanks a lot man!

@cattusfattus6369 6 лет назад

Best analysis channel on youtube. Miles ahead of a channel such as nerdwriter1

@QuHarrison 8 лет назад

Very well done!

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Thanks!

@markcardenas9646 7 лет назад

Impeccable analysis

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Thanks mark!

@gc3k 7 лет назад

Excellent video, lots of details that other videos about Akira overlook. I can excuse the off enunciation haha

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Haha, thanks! Was there any particular pronunciation that was problematic?

@gc3k 7 лет назад

Well for one, Akira is kind of pronounced like "Acura". Instead of emphasizing "kee" you'd emphasize "Aki" then drop off at the "ra" syllable Japanese has a specific cadence to it. There are JP dictionaries that separate the word by a "." as a guide for accurate inflection (for example あき.ら) But seriously, a lot of Akira fans aren't aware of how much of the movie resembles the turmoil in Japan during the 1960s. I'll recommend your video to other fans of the movie

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Oh yeah I'm already aware of that pronunciation problem, haha. It was purposeful cause I showed it to some folks beforehand and they were offput by the pronunciation. At the time I thought it was a necessary evil.

@allaroundergeek2967 8 лет назад

Excellent video. The work of Haruki Murakami make me interested in this period in Japan, since he criticizes the student movements and that sense of idealism, but without knowing the apocalypticism of past generations. Watching you developing it was truly amazing. Also, I like how we are going from Kira, to Akira, to "Get in the F robot".

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

It's funny cause Murakami is actually cited for his work Hard-Boiled Wonderland, which is supposedly an exemplar piece of literature that reflects the fictive age! I don't know if you've read it, but there's a 1991 translation so it may be something you might find interesting. Also the next part is gonna be the least focused, cause it's just a hodge podge of things happening at once, haha.

@allaroundergeek2967 8 лет назад

+Pause and Select Wow, I haven read Wonderland, but in Tokyo Blues and Kafka at the Shore you can briefly feel his criticizes in this movements. I'll definitely read Wonderland as soon as I end 1Q84. A more broad spectrum of material would be interesting. I was expecting Eva as a depiction of post modern approach to apocalypticism. Hideaki Ano is particularly interesting in this aspect, especially when you take the contrast of Rebuild of Evangelion into account. I must admit, your channel is the one that interest me the most right now. Keep at it. :)

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

How is 1Q84? I've been meaning to read that, I know what it's about, I just haven't read that yet. Oh wow, no pressure then, lol.

@allaroundergeek2967 8 лет назад

+Pause and Select So far, I can only say is interesting, since I'm just starting, but it's a trilogy, so is a big commitment. Norwegian Wood (Tokyo Blues) is my favorite, so far. No pressure, just unsubscribing if you don't deliver >:D (not really, I'm following you to the end of time... or something less creepy).

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

All Arounder Geek Okay cool you said you'd subscribe to be till the end of time that is a binding internet legal contract, we have witnesses, you can't back out. If you do, it's a violation of arbitrary internet conversation law. But seriously, I'll take a look at 1Q84 then. Perhaps after I've finished this series. Looking forward to another video of yours man!

@MrSeanwarman 7 лет назад

wow what a brilliant video!

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Thanks Sean!

@MrSeanwarman 7 лет назад

no worries man, saw this at a cinema recently and after it finished someone from the audience just went "that was sooo 80s!". It's refreshing to hear someone who has a deeper insight into this great film.

@sarahl701 6 лет назад

Damn this video rules.

@paradiseagent5881 8 лет назад

Akira video? You beat me to the punch. This was a really educational experience, great vid as always, are you planning to do more longer projects like this in future? Anticipating the next one

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Enh, I mean, the video is 30-40 years old. Hardly beating anyone to the punch. Also link me when you make your video man, I'd love to watch it! I am really uneasy about making super long videos cause I'm a really slow editor, so this one took a few days to edit. If longer videos are gonna happen, I'll need to treat this as a full time job, and that's not really tenable. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll cut material short for the sake of ease or anything, it's just I don't have the time or availability to make long videos on a regular basis. That said, Part 3 may be a long one, depending on what I decide to cut or keep in. And thanks man!

@paradiseagent5881 8 лет назад

That's understandable considering the quality of editing,nice that you still tried something like this out though.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

***** Thanks man! Also yeah definitely link me when you've finished your own Akira video!

@paradiseagent5881 8 лет назад

Pause and Select Will do bro

@edsknife 5 лет назад

When you watch a series of videos but RU-vid doesn't suggest the next video anywhere

@lachlanstill4813 8 лет назад

Absolutely stellar, top-tier work.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Yo Lachlan, I think I caught you in Geoff's livestream! Thanks for checking out my stuff man!

@lachlanstill4813 8 лет назад

Pause and Select Yeah, I've been following you for at least a few weeks now. You're definitely putting out some of the most academic stuff in the RU-vid animespace, which I appreciate. I might've found you through your video on Raukgo.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Nice! How'd you like the Rakugo one?

@lachlanstill4813 8 лет назад

Pause and Select I really enjoyed it. It did something similar to what this series is doing in tying your analysis into Japanese society as a whole. On a slightly different note have you heard of the book "The Moe Manifesto"? It's a collection of papers by various scholars and social commentators about the history and cultural meaning of "moe," and Evangelion comes up at one point in a way similar to that which I anticipate it will in part 3. It talks about the generation of "children" that it served as a response to, but really ended up feeding into if anything. One writer even asserted that the trauma caused to its viewers by NGE and EOE by necessity birthed the modern obsession with moe as a sort of coping mechanism, although the series proving how marketable and profitable cute anime girls could be is probably a stronger factor.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

I haven't read the Moe Manifesto, but I've been recommended to read it, so I will be reading it! So by the time the next video comes out, I'll have finished it. Thanks for mentioning it to me, I'm familiar with it, but rest assured I will read it!

@laststrike4411 7 лет назад

*hears I can't stop loving you" Oh come on! I just stopped crying over that! Why'd you have to bring back the feels?

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

hahah, sorry fam.

@laststrike4411 7 лет назад

XD I didn't think you'd reply, but it's quite a welcome surprise. Anyways, It's fine. I guess Metropolis' impact is destined to stay with me forever.

@nerdpharo3299 6 лет назад

yooooo we need to get you more subs people need to learn this shit .

@nicolasferrand9668 6 лет назад

Hello, I truly enjoyed the video. Could you tell me in which document could i fend something about to two socioligical times of postwar Japan 'the ideal' and the 'fiction' ones. English isn't my first language and you speak really fast. thanks in advance

@lucasandreramirez9083 4 года назад

Hey time to prepare

@Cabral_del_Norte 8 лет назад

Waiting for part 3

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

It's up now! Thanks for waiting!

@sky44david 7 лет назад

Excellent considering the context of natural disasters (earthquake related) that inform survival in Japan about every 3rd generation.

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Yeah I think contemporary Japanese dialogue can be summed up (if that's even possible) as a dialogue of earthquakes.

@fentyspliff 2 года назад

Using this as a source for a film project💀🙏

@greenvelvet Год назад

I liked the pretty pictures

@WW2Dragon 8 лет назад

This video melts steel beams

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Dragon when we playing ultimax fam

@briankale4653 8 лет назад

Akira is a lizard man!

@BinaryDood 7 лет назад

Nice Metropolis reference

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Haha, thanks fam.

@jamesomeara2329 10 месяцев назад

I know this is an older video, so I may not get a response from anyone, but still curious question please. Apocalypticism as an idea in sci-fi is something I learned about in more of the academic context of cold war paranoia, but I can see the understanding unique to Japan. On the other hand, Postmodern literature, I guess can someone clarify how Akira would fit that literary tradition? When I read the manga, it doesn't seem to fit the expiremental style of po-mo as I learned it in college.

@wikedragkuremmaster6087 5 лет назад

So will their be a part two

@jtmk1353 5 лет назад

That ray charles sequence tho

@MuzzYADam 8 лет назад

Great vid as always. This video really shows that not only its interesting and important for an individual to draw his own conclusion and Interpertation when observing a piece of work its also sometimes important to understand the authorial intent and the context that the work was made for originally. I watched Akira with no context of what its represents and took it solely as a movie and to be honest my viewing experience was a bit underwhelming since the movie didn't make me care that much about the characters but thanks to this video it made really appreciate the movie more of a piece that is recollective of the time that was made in and the targeted audience. Will Neon Genesis Evangalion be the only show you will be using as a refrence ?

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

When did you watch Akira? If it's recent, I'm surprised you were able to do so without being spoiled regarding its context. Stuff about this is everywhere. For the next video, it's gonna be about Saikano, Evangelion, 20th Century Boys, and likely a few more, but those three are definitely gonna be spoiled to some degree. 20th Century is massive, so I don't blame you if you don't read it.

@MuzzYADam 8 лет назад

+Pause and Select Yeah its surprising since the movie is considered a cult classic and people always recommend it for me so I tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible and since you were making a video on it I said its was a great time for me to watch it. I've always heard about 20th Centuary Manga ever since I started reading and watching anime regularly but since I'm more of an anime person I didn't have enough motivation to pick it up but now I do fortunately.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

It's good to know I'm essentially having you watch and read older works in a somewhat kicking-and-screaming way, lol. And watch out, 20th Century Boys is big.

@MuzzYADam 8 лет назад

Yeah I'm really Glad I have a chance to read and watch more from a medium that I'm not that well knowledgeable in since I've only been involved in on a regular basis since mid 2014. Your Videos peaked my interest in many shows including a show about Candy xD. hopefully I'm able to get a broad sense of 20th Century Boys by the time you're done with your upcoming video so fingers crossed haha.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Haha, how's Dagashi Kashi treating you so far?

@HarryMcKenzy 7 лет назад

Does the Ray Charles song choice have anything to do with ziggurat destruction scene in Metropolis ???

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

Yep! I'd like to think it's capturing ideas somewhat similar to the Vera Lynn song at the end of Dr. Strangelove!

@TMTLive 8 лет назад

I like how you hinted at Akira by showing Death Note's red katakana notation of Kira. A bit of a shame the subject of the video is in the title anyway, now I don't get to feel smart.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Sorry man...?

@WD_Batora 8 лет назад

The stuff you pointed out in these videos was pretty enlightening Did you read the manga Eden: It's an Endless World?

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

I haven't! I've heard about it, and I'm familiar with it in a general sense, but I haven't read it. How is it? Would you recommend it?

@WD_Batora 8 лет назад

It's a brilliant manga that would fit perfectly as part of this understanding disaster series.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

I'll definitely take a look at it. I've got a roadmap of the series already planned out, so any comment I have in the videos on it will likely be referential. That said, thanks for reminding me of it man!

@ofpveteran73 8 лет назад

You seem to be quite the fan of Katsuhiro Otomo. Do you plan to talk about some of the other projects he has been involved in like Steamboy, Freedom, Short Peace, or Memories? (-;

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Definitely Steamboy and Memories, not sure when. I'm also going to be talking about Domu's use of the "perfect panel". Thing is, I don't know when. I've got it in my backlog, haha.

@leeporwoll2380 Год назад

How come no transcript/captions for this vid?

@oliverv2268 7 лет назад

see you in Tokyo in 2020 for the Olymipics

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

lol

@oliverv2268 7 лет назад

maybe we can dig up Akira under the stadium?

@CaptainSweden 8 лет назад

I like how you are planning and executing this a one big continuous thing, cutting out the little bits in the beginning and end of the previous and coming episode would make it just one long video. I'm assuming that's what you're going for at least, many youtube analysts when they do videos that are connected I feel that they are way to episodic in nature, that each episode is a new take of breath rather as you is the same. One amateur mistake you made is that at 1:51 there's a logo (and of Symphogear) which sort of detracts from the overall serious nature of the video. Tsk tsk I'm also surprised that you didn't use any footage from Barefoot Gen considering the points you were trying to make regarding post-war Japan, or was that footage to gruesome? The post-war period of Japan is one I find very interesting, though I have a hard time finding satisfying material that gives a good overhead view of it. You once again makes points that I've sort of always known in the back of my head, but never put together; Akira is the best summation of Japan 1945-1990. I must admonish your use of articles in your videos and bring up literary points, so many youtubers base their videos on their opinion and reflection alone, which is not wrong in of itself, but as you do it makes it feel more like a essay. I think in literature of the time we have a hard time being as reflective of our own contemporary influences and they only become apparent once you have a far enough perspective of things, kind of like we can't really stereotype a decade until after. While I'm not saying Otomo didn't know what he was doing and just wrote a story, I think it was more from the perspective of a contemporary youth that rather than accept the past and integrate it to themselves rather abandon it for a new future. I feel Otomo stood as on of three people; people before war, people born after the war but felt the effects, and people who did not know the war but felt the effect of the people who had. Born in 1954 I feel as Otomo's generation bridged the gap between the two others. The author is dead after all so it's up to anyone's interpretation. One thing I like about Akira is that is not as shaming as Grave of the Fireflies which is a good contrast as it came out the same year as Akira. I absolutely despise Grave of the Fireflies for it's propagandist nature-a movie so preoccupied with wanting to make its audience feel sad that it forgets to tell a good story, with the singular goal to make it audience (contemporary Japanese youth) feel the same way as their elders did which I think to some extent makes it feel like a "those darn kids" sort of move. Another great video and interesting subject matter, I'm very interested in seeing what you can show about post-bubble Japan. Please, please, don't read into much about Evangelion's christian iconography, it's merely the window dressing for the much more important interpersonal and personal behavior, psychology and relationships. The anime and tokusatsu that inspired Evangelion is far more important to Eva than the christian symbolism.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Yo, CaptainSweden! What's up? I've put your words in brackets so you know what I'm replying to. [I'm assuming that's what you're going for at least, many youtube analysts when they do videos that are connected I feel that they are way to episodic in nature, that each episode is a new take of breath rather as you is the same.] I don't know what you're saying at the ending there man, haha. Could you clarify? [One amateur mistake you made is that at 1:51 there's a logo (and of Symphogear) which sort of detracts from the overall serious nature of the video. Tsk tsk] Haha, oh man, I totally didn't like the Symphogear logo that showed up, trust me. It was like, 3 in the morning when I was editing that part and I didn't want to download, handbrake, and substitute footage so I was just like "AH WHATEVER I DON'T CARE" and just went with it. Moral is I probably shouldn't be editing late into the night. The reason I didn't end up using Barefoot Gen is pretty mundane: none of my seeds really finished in time, and I didn't want to wait on one clip for a point that wouldn't really be made that often, so I decided to just not use it. I had a bunch of shows, but really it boiled down to seeding, cause I don't want to deal with subtitles showing up. [ I must admonish your use of articles in your videos and bring up literary points, so many youtubers -base their videos on their opinion and reflection alone, which is not wrong in of itself, but as you do it makes it feel more like a essay.] I'm not totally sure what's being said here. Are you having concerns regarding my citations or my preference for using essay-like presentation in my videos? [I feel Otomo stood as on of three people; people before war, people born after the war but felt the effects, and people who did not know the war but felt the effect of the people who had. Born in 1954 I feel as Otomo's generation bridged the gap between the two others. The author is dead after all so it's up to anyone's interpretation.] That's actually an extremely good point you make because Bolton does update Freiburg's claim and state that Otomo technically doesn't consider himself as part of the twentysomethings, but as sort of a group that observed it. He's sort of in-between. And it's really important because if that's the case, then this places Akira in a very special light, I think. [Please, please, don't read into much about Evangelion's christian iconography, it's merely the window dressing for the much more important interpersonal and personal behavior, psychology and relationships] Oh yeah, I'm very familiar with the surface implementation of Evangelion's Kabbalistic imagery. That's not what I'm going to be talking about.

@CaptainSweden 8 лет назад

[I don't know what you're saying at the ending there man, haha. Could you clarify?] I guess I'm not as good at metaphors as I thought. What I meant was that the two episodes you've already done feels like they are cut out from a longer fllm and posted as episodes, unlike many other youtubers make their videos more like episodes of tv-series. What 'm trying to say is that they flow into each other very nicely. [I'm not totally sure what's being said here. Are you having concerns regarding my citations or my preference for using essay-like presentation in my videos?] No, I have the opposite of concern, I think it's good that you use articles and essays. I'm saying that it's great that you pull ideas from a larger pool, it helps illustrate and strengthens your arguments when it's not just your own word. I'm criticizing other youtubers who don't. I'm sorry if what I tried to say was confusing, but writing a wall of text in a youtube comment, you don't always have the best overlook.

@PauseandSelect 8 лет назад

Ah, okay, thanks man! I appreciate the kind words dude.

@akinaspeedstar22 5 лет назад

The narrative is off I just can’t put my ginger on it.

@fruitpunchsan1471 4 года назад

Great analysis video but,i don't quite understand how you used the term schizophrenia in the context of disjointedness and discontinuity in a narrative

@Steviemn1 6 лет назад

And I thought America was the only country overly obsessed with death and destruction.

@yearofthechinchilla4435 7 лет назад

Whoa...we definitely aren't in Kansas anymore. What planet are you from dude?

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

@yearofthechinchilla4435 7 лет назад

I was referring to the high level of brain power in your videos, great job, Ill need to review your videos as they are just SO heavy duty

@PauseandSelect 7 лет назад

@jozah 5 лет назад

Only people who watched metropolis know this song

@shogun7p7 5 лет назад

Great film

@dingirkuru7385 5 лет назад

the way you use the idea of schizophrenia... i think it's wrong... the schizophrenic mind is disjointed form reality. but this not entails discontinuity or disjointedness. whap happens is that the schizophrenic mix things, uniting what is not to be united, establishing relationships with thing that cant be related.

@dingirkuru7385 5 лет назад

4:40 i dont buy the division between the age of fiction and the age o reality.... im inclined to understand apocalyptic narratives in the framework of mythological thinking. in these terms, japanese narratives are not that different from the hebrew, greco-roman, or ancient indians (sanskrit and budist) traditions...