Devotion | Animated Observations

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

This month on OWLS, our theme has to do with the virus known as COVID-19 that has greatly affected the world recently: Hope

We are in the midst of a pandemic which has led people to live in fear and anxiety over the coronavirus. For this month, rather than seeing the dark side of the situation we are living in, we will be exploring anime and other pop culture mediums that bring hope for humanity and why they have such a positive impact on us.

As always, be sure to check out some of the posts from my fellow OWLS members Megan and Lita as well.

With that said, enjoy the post.

I do not think it is at all an exaggeration to say that the world is in crisis right now. The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused mass panic, spurred on by a flurry of misinformation and fear of poverty and starvation. This in turn has lead to hoarding of important medical supplies and food.

What is worse, in a time when political trust in institutions is already at an all time low, our leaders have failed to provide necessary relief, and in some cases have actively impeded attempts to get said relief. The severity of the situation is beginning to rival even events such as Word War Two, and it seems like there is little to be hopeful about. All the more reason then to…*checks notes*…laugh?

In times of extreme discomfort, pain, and worry, it can be incredibly easy to give into our bleakest of feelings and spend all of our time depressed. However, it is exactly because of these feelings that people should be occupying their time by with things that make them feel good. More specifically, comedy.

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One might point out that a lot of the comedy in the show could come off as one dimensional, given that a lot of the jokes in the show revolve around their height, and the fact that Ootani does not realize Koizumi like him until pretty late in the series. In fairness, this is not an unreasonable criticism.

I would however argue to things. One is that I think a lot of the cliched jokes in the show are fairly justified given that both are shown to be socially unintelligent in a number of ways. Another is a point I echoed earlier. Given the situation going on right now, and a heightened sense of awareness about friends and loved ones, I think a lot of the show’s core message will resonate, and the comedy by effect will shine through.

I also know that, like myself, many people go through periods of anime burnout, where they simply do not want to watch anything anime related. In that case, stand up comedy is a great place to get a lot of good laughs. A good place to find a lot of stand up comedy right now is Netflix.

Over the past couple of years, Netflix, at least in the U.S., has built a pretty impressive library of comedy specials. A few comedians who stand out are Ally Wong, whose stories about her marriage and personally life are always incredibly funny, and Trevor Noah, whose backstory makes him incredibly interesting to listen to.

As for comedy movies, well… I got nothing there, sorry.

Whatever it is, Now more than ever is a time to be laughing. Is is not healthy, both mentally and physically, to keep those fears and worries bottled up. So, keep watching the news, and stay informed. Those are also important, but make sure to keep yourself laughing so that it does not get your health down.

Everyone reading this is awesome, and I hope all of you are staying safe. What have you guys been doing to pass the time? Let me know in the comments.

If you are interested in reading more from me, check under blog to read my most recent stuff, or look below for some related posts. Also, if you would like to support Animated Observations, consider donating on Ko-fi or through paypal, or pledging on Patreon. You can even support by just liking and sharing this post.

If you can’t, or just don’t feel like it, no worries. Thank you all for reading, and goodbye, for now, friends!

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

At this point, I do not know if I need to explain what OWLS is, but just in case, I will. For those who are totally unaware, OWLS is a group of bloggers and other content creators dedicated to promoting acceptance of all groups, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. In dedication to that mission, members make one post/video each month dedicated to this idea.

For this month, our theme is “devotion:”

When we talked about fandoms, we show our appreciation and support by buying merchandise, cosplaying, writing fanfiction and etc. In fact, our appreciation can end up looking like a sign of religious worship. For this month, we will be talking about how certain characters express devotion to others, objects, and values. We will also be discussing how devotion can turn into an unhealthy form of passion and obsession and the implications of that.

As always, make sure you also check out posts from the members going before me and after me, which this month is Nyan and Matt Doyle, respectively. The full schedule for this month can be found at the end of this post. With all of that being said though, my post this month focuses on Oregairu. Please enjoy.

The return of Oregairu will likely mean continued growth for its main character Hikigaya. However, even despite this, it is worth remembering where his character started off, and how his progression throughout the series has affected him.

Hachiman Hikigaya started off in the series as fairly sure of himself. Distinct from the rest of his classmates, he felt that most were wasting their lives doing nothing, and that enjoying himself was completely worthless. This attitude attracts the attention of one of his teachers, and is then forced to join the Volunteer Service Club, one which is dedicated to helping others with their problems.

Hachiman, being someone who cares very little about others, takes issue with this immediately. He sees using his time to help others as completely nonsensical, but is forced to nonetheless. Arguably more problematic than his outlook, though, is the way in which he chooses to help others. Hachiman usually takes a more selfish root to solving problems, and even if they do end up working, they usually hurt both others and himself in the process.

A good example of this comes in the final moments of the first season, when the student council president is tasked with giving a speech to open the school festival, but gets stage fright and is unable to do so. In order to save the school festival, Hachiman takes it upon himself to guilt the president into doing her job. Everyone else sees this as going to far, but, at least initially, he accepts this as a necessary evil.