September Media Favourites/Recommendations

Hey everyone!

Here's some faves and recommendations from September.

Death Billiards/Death Parade

Death Billiards is a short film that came out in 2013 as part of the Young Animator Training Project, an annual project funded by the Japanese government that spawns a number of anime (the original Little Witch Academia film was another from the same year). Death Billiards became the basis for its own TV anime, Death Parade, with both being brought to us by Madhouse.

I've been excited to watch Death Parade ever since it came out and so I was really glad to finally get around to it this month. The series centres around one of many bars in the afterlife where the souls of the recently departed are judged and either reincarnated or sent to the void. This is done through two individuals who have died more or less simultaneously playing one of a variety of games against one another. Typically unable to remember what has happened just prior to their arrival, the pair are told they're playing with their lives on the line. The catch is, it isn't the outcome of the game but their conduct during it that determines their fate. The series follows the arbiter Decim and his human assistant who has mysteriously had her deliberation delayed.

It's a fascinating premise, and one rife with potential to explore the human psyche. Death Parade was thoroughly entertaining to watch, easily enough to earn it a spot on this list, but there were points where I feel it failed to stick the landing with what it was trying to say and even felt a little contrived. It's a good example of a show that has an ambitious enough premise to earn itself a decent chunk of points based on that alone, but at times felt it had bit off more than it could chew with regards to the immensity of its subject matter -- namely, morality and how we find meaning in our lives. With all of that being said, the show is great food for thought, and has some episodes that will stay with me for a long time. It's animated with Madhouse's usual flourish and has one of anime's more memorable settings, and Yuki Hayashi's OST is just brilliant. While not a masterpiece, Death Parade and its preceding film are absolutely worth the watch and definitely some of anime's more interesting offerings of recent years.

Planetes

I mentioned Planetes earlier this year, but wanted to give it a spot on this list now that I've finally finished it and have a bit more to say. I'd heard so much about Planetes over the years, but only picked it up as part of prepatation for my eventual video on Satsuki Yukino (she's named it as one of the shows that has impacted her the most to work on). I'm not sure I would have otherwise, so I have to thank her for introducing me to yet another great series.

Planetes isn't perfect -- my feelings about it aren't dissimilar to my feelings on Death Parade. It has a brilliant, incredibly unique premise -- it follows a space debris collection unit at a time when space travel has become the norm and accidents need to be prevented. However, as I gather, the series suffered a fair bit in its adaptation from manga to anime, with the character writing being compressed in ways that were evident even without having read the source (which I now plan to do at some point). Still, it was a show I developed a great fondness for, with a plethora of memorable characters and themes. Though its messages on this front can feel a little muddled, the show has no qualms delving right into space development's inextricable relationship with capitalism, and how it primarily serves to reinforce the richest countries' positions of power and status. There's ample exploration of classism, too, in looking at how the debris crew are viewed and treated by those around them despite the vital role they play, and the story even delves into eco-terrorism later in its run. I could go on, but suffice it to say Planetes is a thoroughly unique show defined by its very human handling of its subject matter. I especially recommend it if you're looking for something with a more grounded and mature tone and focus set apart from much of the rest of the anime sphere.

Tokyo Ueno Station

Tokyo Ueno Station is a relatively short and experimental novel by author Yū Miri primarily concerned with a community of homeless people residing in Tokyo's Ueno Park. It also follows the ways in which Japan has changed over the last eighty years through the eyes and life of one man. I've never read anything quite like it, and while it is a deeply, deeply sad book, it is also a hugely important one, drawing from a number of true stories. Amongst other things, I learnt while reading it that a number of homeless individuals in Tokyo are labourers from Fukushima who had moved to the city alone in pursuit of better job opportunities so that they could send money back to their families, only for the 2011 disaster to leave them without anywhere or anybody to return to. The book generally explores the disparity of wealth in both Tokyo and the country at large, and uses both the 1964 and 2020 Olympics as markers of this. Tokyo Ueno Park is a difficult read and won't be for everyone, but it is a true literary achievement and one I'm glad I experienced.

Squid Game

Much like everyone else with a Netflix subscription, I also watched Squid Game this month. In case anyone has been living under a rock, Squid Game is a Korean survival drama where a number of players who have amassed huge debt compete in a series of children's games complete with horrible twists to win prize money. It is a grotesquely entertaining series (it is considerably violent but not quite gratuitously so), but there's definitely more to it than the premise might suggest, with the most obvious commentary once again being on capitalism (an accidental theme this month). The end takeaway isn't a particularly novel one and a number of plot threads are left fairly open-ended (perhaps for a second season), but the nail-biting, twist-filled journey there was one I really enjoyed(?), and the show is full of interesting dynamics and great performances. It's a pretty bleak and bloody show that won't be for everyone, but neither of those are much of my thing either and I still feel like my time with this one was time well-spent.

Finally, Higurashi Sotsu ended the other day! I'm still processing, but I've been posting any of my thoughts on the show over on Twitter and will continue to do so so I just wanted to direct anybody looking for those over there. I'm still not quite sure when or if it'll show up on my channel.

And YouTube videos:

Gaming and the Golden Record by Chariot Rider (a series of mini video essays on which games best represent humanity were they to be sent into space)

OCARINA OF TIME - A Masterclass In Subtext by Good Blood (I've barely played any TLoZ in my life and I'm sure anybody who has has already seen this video based on the view count but it was too masterfully made not to include!)

Another Minute Remaining by hotcyder (a self-described "video mixtape" of sixty one-minute video essays on all kinds of topics -- a brilliant idea and way to find new channels!)

did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen? by kuroyuri. (another brilliant Higurashi AMV/edit)

Can YOU Fix Climate Change? by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell (I'm a bit late to the party on this channel but this is a great video)

Investigation: How Roblox Is Exploiting Young Game Developers by People Make Games (this channel does consistently great games journalism)

Buying a PC With Dell: My Journey Into Hell by Super Eyepatch Wolf (this video was ridiculously entertaining)

And finally a general channel recommendation for wholeheartedly, clahrah. Clara makes vlogs, but that term in no way conveys just how artful her videos are. They've been a source of comfort and creative inspiration for me for a long time.

And that's all for this month! Bye for now!