June Media Round-Up

Hi everyone!

I'm renaming these posts as sometimes I want to talk about things that aren't necessarily faves/recs 🧐 Starting off this month with...

Everything Everywhere All at Once

I definitely do recommend giving EEAAO a watch if it sounds interesting to you, especially if you can see it on the big screen. In the unlikely event that you haven't heard of it, it's a film that explores what happens when the main character, Evelyn Quan Wang, becomes aware that her unremarkable life is only one of many that exist across a multiverse of endless possibilities. Wikipedia calls it an absurdist comedy-drama which I'd say is accurate.

It's exceedingly rare for me to watch non-anime films, but my friend invited me to go and see this one at the cinema with him and I happily accepted, having heard nothing but praise for it. As a cinematic experience/spectacle, EEAAO was fantastic. It was also wonderfully refreshing to see a story about an Asian-American family. Otherwise, I found the film lacking. Parallel universe/alternate reality concepts are some of my favourites in fiction (surprise surprise) -- they can be used to explore so many interesting philosophical conundrums, not least of all how we make peace with our imperfect and finite lives as they are. This can be a double-edged sword, as I've seen/read/played quite a few things things in this vein by this point. I ultimately felt that EEAAO struggled to bring anything new to the premise.

Initially, I was really drawn in by the way the film first introduces us to Evelyn's life, then confronts us and her with the reality that this isn't the only possibility -- the only 'her'. The film utilises its medium to full effect to explore what this revelation would do to somebody's mind and how it would feel, and this is where EEAAO shines. From here, however, the plot hurtles forwards at break-neck pace with a focus on action over introspection. I ultimately didn't feel that we were given the time to learn about and bond with the characters necessary for the story's conclusion to land emotionally, and of all the interesting routes the story could've taken, it felt as though EEAAO stuck to the most predictable one. This didn't have to be an issue in itself, but it left me reflecting on how many times I'd seen the same conclusions reached in ways that had impacted me more.

Despite it not being a personal favourite, I'm really glad EEAAO exists, that it has meant so much to so many others, and above all that it definitively demonstrates that representation isn't just something to shoehorn in, but to centre and celebrate.

The Tatami Galaxy

My other watch this month was the 2010 anime series The Tatami Galaxy which I've been meaning to get around to forever. I definitely think it's best to know as little as possible going into this one, so I won't say much besides that the series follows the protagonist's less-than-successful pursuit of the perfect college life.

TTG was (somehow) my first ever Masaaki Yuasa anime and his directing and just the show's visuals in general were definitely highlights. I've been a fan of the ED (and Etsuko Yakushimaru generally) for years and it was a real treat at the end of every episode, particularly having the full context for it. I do feel like I might have enjoyed TTG even more if I hadn't seen analysis videos on it beforehand ""spoiling"" the show's overarching premise/messages, but there is of course more than one way to interpret any work and TTG is definitely the sort of show you can watch again and again and still spot new things. For me, it was a show I had a lot of fun with and am glad to finally have ticked off my list. It got me thinking both about how interesting it is to see how novels are adapted into anime (I somehow only recently realised that most of the series I've covered on my channel are this), and how absolutely the medium of anime lends itself to shows as unique as TTG. All in all, TTG is a show I have a lot of respect for, and I'll definitely be checking out the recently-announced sequel! I actually watched the related film The Night is Short, Walk on Girl before the series many years ago and also really enjoyed that (perhaps even more than the series) -- I think watching it first worked weirdly well. Definitely both worth checking out.

Otherwise, just two videos I've enjoyed this month:

How Switch Sports Failed to Recapture the Magic of Wuhu Island by eurothug4000

Head Transplants and the Non-Existence of the Soul by Jacob Geller

'Til next time!