Dororo (2019) The Tale Of The Nue- Conflict Of The Want And Need

Dororo (2019) The Tale of the Nue- Conflict of the Want and Need

The Tale of Nue is actually a great episode to watch for an example of character writing and the conflict of want and need they go through in an arc. This is a great example of a setback in a character’s arc. They do this by making it seem like the need necessitates the want. We see Hyakkimaru start to get and realize what he needs, connection and an understanding of others through his interaction with Dororo at the beginning of the episode. The lack that he has seems to have eased because of Dororo. The conflict of the episode creates a clash between the want and the need by having Dororo be in trouble and Hyakkimaru be unable to save her because of the limits of his prosthetics. If he had his real arms he would have been able to save Dororo. This makes him lean even more into his lie that to fill the lack he needs his real body. This pushes him even further into his descent than before despite being so close to discovering what he really needs. 

The Tragedy of Dororo (2019) - Finding the “Lack”

I just finished watching the 2019 anime adaptation of Dororo and with the final confrontation between Hyakkimaru and his father as well as the revelation that follows I was struck with how utterly tragic the story was. Daigo realizes that Hyakkimaru was supposed to grow up to be a great ruler and bring about the prosperity and peace that he desired and his deal with the demons actually destroyed the possibility of that lasting prosperity. 

All of the suffering that we saw the characters go through could have been avoided. In the end no one was really right. Everyone lacked something that prevented them from making the right choices. For Daigo it was patience and faith, for Hyakkimaru it was his body and understanding, for Tahomaru it was love and support. Every choice made by the characters was driven by their “lack”. And it wasn’t until they understood their “lack” that they were able to see what they truly needed to do, or in Daigo’s case what he should have done. It all becomes clear in the end, but by that point everything has literally and metaphorically burned to the ground.

Hyakkimaru’s journey was especially poignant after that revelation (at least to me). We see his struggle from start to finish, we see him come to care for Dororo, we see his humanity, but we also see his lack be the driving factor for his “inhumanity”. In the episode “Story of the Nue” we see how far Hyakkimaru has come when he gets Dororo food and wants to hear all of her stories. At this time he has found something he cares about more than getting his body back, but throughout the course of the episode we also see how that new care and love can also drive his descent. He is increasingly desperate to save Dororo and can’t because of the limits of his prosthetics which shatter with the effort. This is a sort of breaking point because before he didn’t have a real reason to get his body back other than just wanting it because he believed it would fill his lack, but now he has a driving factor. To get his body back so that he can protect Dororo which leads to his intense desperation and breakdown when he doesn’t receive anything for defeating the Nue. Dororo started to fill Hyakkimaru’s lack. Hyakkimaru mistakenly believed that his lack was his missing body, but in reality it was his connection to people and his understanding of others. Once he makes that connection and is able to see others for what they truly are “human” instead of “others in his way” he is able to become the man he was destined to be.

The connection between what Hyakkimaru believes to be his lack and what really is his lack is interesting. Hyakkimaru not being able to understand others and how they are all like him (human) stems from his lack of a body and senses, but it is his fundamental misunderstanding that getting his body back won’t fix his lack that makes his quest misguided.  

The tragedy and pain that Hyakkimaru felt could have been avoided if Daigo’s lack was something different, but because of it he was forced through this crucible and the people were left without the leader that was meant to bring them prosperity. 

The story of Dororo is fascinating because of this. What could have easily been adapted as the tale of Hyakkimaru valiantly fighting through his handicaps to take down the evil demons and his irredeemable family (like the original manga) was turned into a much more tragic tale where everything is in shades of grey and the theological ideas of the time period were addressed with much greater thought. Dororo is a story of filling the lack within ourselves and that it sometimes doesn’t happen until it's too late. This struggle felt very human and hit me harder once it was all over.

On a side note: I highly recommend this series. I was glued to the screen from start to finish and really hope everyone gives it a chance.

Infinity Train Book 2 Thought/Review

I wasn’t sure what to think when I saw Infinity Train will return at the end of the first season. I felt that it was a really good self contained story that didn’t really need a continuation to feel satisfying to me and I was nervous that they would try and churn out more and more episodes and seasons and maybe lose what I initially loved so much about the show, but I have never been so happy to be wrong. Infinity train book 2 managed to, in my opinion, be even better than the first season. Lake’s journey was one of the most real, emotional, and heartfelt I’ve seen in the past year. They took what worked with the first season and expanded on it. They took the heart and willingness to explore real and painful emotions as well as expand on the world of the infinity train. 

Lake was such a strong character that I haven’t been able to get her out of my head since watching the season. The way the show portrayed her journey and existential dread over not being her own person just a reflection was phenomenal. The last few episodes of the season where she is left to struggle to find her own way out and growing despair were the strongest of the season. They were, in essence, a character study. My personal favorite episode was “The Tape Car”. The scene where Lake fails to get her own number and grabs onto the robot begging it to look at her, that she is a real person, and then breaks the robots in the midst of a breakdown was so full of raw emotion and desperation. I couldn’t help but feel sad for her situation and want her to escape the train just as badly as she did. The whole scene felt like an emotional gut punch and I had to rewatch the scene quite a few times afterwards because I couldn’t get how it made me feel out of my head. And that’s what I like the most about shows, having a character, episode, plot point, or scene that blows me away and sticks with me after the show is over. I like it when a show is able to evoke strong emotions from me and make me look back on it positively and this season managed to do that with Lake. Her question about whether she needs a story like the dead lizard struck me because she has suffered and struggled and grown. Her struggle has been real and just because the robots couldn’t see it and she doesn’t have a number doesn’t make it any less true. She’s had to fight to experience even the simple things that people take for granted and yet she wasn’t allowed a number or a way off despite working to grow unlike many others on the train like the people on the mall car. When she is finally free after all her struggling and finally able to look at her reflection without fear it felt validating in a way. She is finally free of the constant fear for her life and freedom and she can finally embrace her initial identity as a reflection and make it her own.

Lake’s relationship to Jesse was another strong part of the show’s season. I really liked the dynamic that they had with each other and how it made them grow as people. Lake made Jesse stop giving into peer pressure and do what he wants and what he thinks is right despite the fact that other people may not like it. This is a characteristic that Lake starts out with, alibi a bit to the extreme, and she is able to teach Jesse this lesson because of it. Jesse is more open to people and get Lake to first open up to him and the possibility that she doesn’t have to be alone, that connections are another part of life that she has the right to experience. They both had to find a way to define themselves outside of the expectations and pressures of others. It’s hard not to be devastated when they get separated and be happy when they finally both get off the train together. 

This season just seemed to hit more emotional beats for me than the first. And that’s saying something because I thought the first season was really good at addressing the problems that it dealt with and conveying the frustration and denial that Tulip was going through. This season spoke more to me personally. Both Jesse’s struggle to not give into peer pressure and be who he wants to be not who others will like and Lake’s struggle to find validation in her identity and carve out a path of her own outside of expectations that were forced upon her. 

This season was also darker than the first, especially when it comes to Lake’s story. Lake has the mirror feds chasing her and actively trying to kill her, she experiences existential dread over being her own person, and goes through what could be considered psychological torture at times. A show doesn’t have to be dark to be great, but this show handled these dark themes well and made them compelling by attaching them to a strong main character like Lake. Jesse is a strong supporting character/part main character. He does take a backseat to Lake in the latter half of the series and Lake is introduced as our perspective character. I really liked this choice because it keeps the initial concept of the infinity train while attaching it to deeper themes like what it means to be “human”/ be your own person. 

I also want to give props to everyone who worked on the show. From the fantastic performances of Ashley Johnson and Robbie Daymond to the writers of the show like Owen Dennis and Alex Horab to the animation which seems to improve with each episode of the show. 

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this show since the finale. I really hope it gets a third season and gets to explore more of the train and the deeper themes it likes to tackle. The setting is rife for potential and the showrunners clearly like to push boundaries. They constantly push the envelope on what they can show and cover in a cartoon that is aired with a rating of TV-PG. I’m really glad that shows like infinity train exist that are willing to try and one up itself and keep growing and expanding instead of playing it safe.

Breaking Down Catra’s Breakdown in Fractures

I really love Catra’s breakdown scene. Every shot has a purpose and meaning behind it and so does the music. I don’t think there was a wasted moment.

 It starts on a closeup shot of her face making sure we can’t really see her surroundings and it’s clear from the get go that her smile and words don’t completely match up with how she feels by the obvious bags under her eyes. There’s more going on here. 

Then it cuts to a shot of the screen with Hordak on it. There is a small screen in the lower left corner that is cracked once again hinting at everything not being “under control”. The cracks in Catra’s facade are becoming harder to hide from the people around her and the full extent of her deteriorating mental state is hidden from the audience.

The transmission ends and immediately the camera zooms out to reveal all of the destruction around Catra. The music swells to what is a sinister note then fades to a quieter decidedly more tragic tune. The full extent of Catra’s emotional decline isn’t shown until Catra is completely alone. Catra is framed rather small in comparison to the large, destroyed room. Her pain is bigger than she can handle and everything is starting to become collateral. 

The shot changes to a closeup view once again but this time it’s of Catra’s profile from the middle of her chest to the bridge of her nose, her eyes are out of frame. Catra removes her mask right now both literally and metaphorically, but we still can’t see her eyes. Her full emotions aren’t completely clear yet. We’ve only seen the destruction and anger.

 The mask falls to the ground and Catra quickly follows. She falls to her knees with her head bowed to the ground and starts crying. 

It cuts to her face and we finally get to see her eyes again and all we can see is her emotional anguish. The sad/tragic music swells as Catra’s breakdown continues mirroring the outpouring of emotion. It went from soft when Catra initially removed her mask and the more Catra’s facade slips the louder the music gets until the facade is completely gone and the music crescendos. The shot is a close up, nothing else is in frame. Catra is so alone and in denial that her real feelings, the sadness and pain, can’t be seen by anyone else. She makes sure that it can’t be seen by anyone else. All anyone else will see once this is done is the outward destruction.

This whole scene is so powerful from the framing, to the music, to the dialogue, to the animation. Everything about this scene is amazing. It’s framed so tragic. This is Catra’s low point. She is hitting her rock bottom.

The Witcher Netflix Review

Netflix’s The Witcher series starts with a bang. Everything within the world comes crashing down. Nilfgard has attacked and overtaken Cintra and Ciri has barely escaped with her life with the goal to find the man her grandmother told her about Geralt of Rivia. The first episode immediately pulled me in and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen in this story and world. The final two episodes made everything come full circle and I was left wanting more. Especially with the cliffhanger ending that episode eight left off on.

The series juggles three timelines with Ciri, Geralt, and Yennefer at the focus of each of their own timelines. Ciri’s timeline happens mainly after the fall of Cintra. Geralt’s timeline chronicles how he came to become Ciri’s fate. And Yennefer’s tells the story of an unwanted and powerless girl becoming a powerful and confident sorceress. All storylines were well told and got me to care for each individual character. I cheered when they succeeded and was sad when they failed. All three were well cast and now that I’ve seen their portrayals in the show I can’t imagine anyone else playing these parts.

Netflix clearly didn’t take any shortcuts with the production of the Witcher. All of the technical aspects look top notch. The CGI looks fantastic for a television series.The cinematography is also very gorgeous. The timelines and places are easily distinguishable from one another through lighting, filters, and set design. I never got one place mixed up with another. 

I did think there were a few moments that were slow. They probably could have cut some content to tighten up the episodes a bit more. Episode five was the weakest of the eight episode series, but it did contain some relationship building that did affect the characters moving forward. Overall these weren’t that major because the show typically moved at a pretty brisk pace with important story of character beats happening fairly often.

I recommend this show for both fans and newcomers. Fans will enjoy seeing their favorite characters adapted for the screen and newcomers will not be lost in the world and will come to understand the characters and their stories well.

Destiny - Conflict of Feelings through Juxtaposition

Adora breaking the sword is a perfect example of showing conflicting feelings through juxtaposition in scenes. This moment of victory and triumph is followed quickly by sadness.

 It starts out with loud, intense music that sounds similar to the music that plays during the revelation that Adora doesn’t get to refuse firing the heart of Etheria in Destiny part 1, which usually conveys a sense of inevitability or lack of control. The main difference between the two is the end in the original one the music fades to a quiet, somber note, but in the one used during this scene the music cuts off completely when Adora breaks the sword. Adora has stopped the heart. She has broken free of her destiny symbolized through the music breaking off. The scene is also brightly colored matching the triumphant tone, but is quickly followed by a sad, quiet, empty scene where Adora is left alone with the broken shards of the sword.

The stark juxtaposition this scene has from the loud, epic, colorful scene just prior puts the conflicting feelings Adora must be feeling on full display. Yes she just broke free from her destiny, yes she just stopped a universe destroying weapon, but she also lost everything that she felt gave her worth in this war. She just lost she-ra and her power and it happens just when Horde Prime has discovered them and set etheria in his sights. The lack of music in this scene is for a very different reason than in the previous one. This is a deeply personal moment for Adora. Adora has effectively “killed” she-ra (as far as she knows). This is her moment to grieve before she has to face the hardships to come.