Amon the Equalist - Legend of Korra Season 1

One of my favourite American cartoons of all time was Avatar: The Last Airbender. When I heard a follow-up series was coming out I was exstatic. The creators of The Legend of Korra, for me anyway, not only lived up to expectations but easily surpassed them with the world, story and characters they created in the follow-up series. For me the highlight of the whole series was not Korra and her companions but the villian, Amon. Brilliantly voice-acted by Steve Blum but even more brilliantly written (plus with his his mask on he looks like a total badass). He was for me a near-perfect villian. In this post I want to explore Amon, who for me is the most compelling villian ever really.

Does Amon's image not just scream "This guy is a BadAss". The symbol by the way means Equality.
http://greenguy22.deviantart.com/art/Amon-299386490

Amon, like any great villian, has the skill to cause the protagonist a lot of worries. He is an agile hand-to-hand fighter, able to take down the best benders without even breaking a sweat. However, his true power is his waterbending. Not only is he a master in the art of bending water but he has mastered, through years of training and his own natural talent, blood-bending. Although some can break free from his grip when he does decide to control them with this formidible power, if he was ever to get an adversary on the back foot he would be able to end the fight by using his blood-bending abilities to permenantly block their chi (stopping them from bending). We see these skills used throughout the series numerous times, like during his "Revelation" and after the pro-bending tournament final. He is also, like many a great villian, cunning, intelligent and highly manipulative. His speeches are always filled with rheotoric and plans are always well thoughtout to the most minute details. His backstory is one that is compelling and somewhat heartbreaking. 

Amon (originally known as Noatak) standing up to his father for his brother Tarlok.

This all seems like any other great villian, they usually will have a great backstory and be awesomely skilled and intelligent. However there is one point of difference that pushes Amon beyond these others. This is his moral ambiguity, in both the his motivations and methods of doing what he wants, as well as his humanity at the end of the series. What he wants is equality. Equality, fairness, for one person to be treated the same as someone next to them. We all want this don't we? Recent history has been all about creating a world of equal oppurtunity free of discrimination. Amon wants this world. He sees that some benders are using their powers to exploit and get above non-benders and he wants equality. This is built into him from his background, where he realises he is only being used by his father, a notorous gang criminal, to get back at the Avatar, the most virtuous person in the world charged with keeping balance and order. The first time we see him, during his "Revelation" show, we see he is targetting gang-leaders and their affiliates. At this Equalist rally Amon reveals his plan to eradicate the powers of benders, as they only brought suffering to the world and were the cause of every war in history. Admittedly there is a lot of false rheotoric behind this, such as his sympathetic backstory (where his family, all non-benders, was extorted by a firebender and his face was left horribly scarred) and how he has been chosen by the spirits to bring order and equality. However the fact remains he is looking for an idealised future that we all want and are brought up to want. 

Amon taking Lightning Bolt Zolt's firebending away.

What further enforces the fact he has good in mind is that he has all the capability to be a gang-leader, exploit thousands and make huge bundles of money, yet he is an idealist in what is essentailly an unfair world. The only reason i can see that he is chastised by his closest follower, the Leutenant (the guy with the electric batons and moustache), is because he is a bender (and thus called a liar) and the son of the most notorious gang-leader in recent history, yet he is not judged as his own person or on his ideals and beliefs. It reveals that the non-benders don't want equality as such, they want to be on top. Amon is shown to be better in his beliefs than the lackies he leads. The only reason he is seen as bad by those in power is because those in power have bending and would be affected by this. There is such a strong parallel now to rich people being in governments around the world, yet not wanting to help economic equality because it would diminish their own personal estates. 

A wicked cool election poster for Amon. I know he would have my vote for what ever the fuck he wanted. 

http://www.deviantart.com/art/amon-311015049

So why is Amon the villian then? The music and the way he is visually portrayed gives off the vibe that he is bad, but his beliefs are in fact the purest and best they could be surely. It seems he is the villian due to the methods he wants to go to to make the world equal. They are too Draconian. He wants to rid the world of bending, the thing which has traditionally given the Avatar (the true champion of balance) all their power. And he does this all with force. Sometimes it all does come across quite harsh. I mean, sure the gang-leaders deserved there powers being taken away but realistically the pro-benders did not. They were definitely wrong for bribing the referees but they didn't deserve their powers to be taken surely. It would be like breaking a footballer's legs if he was to try and matchfix. Very harsh indeed, but at the same time he never actually kills anyone. With his bloodbending he could quite literally break people into two, but he doesn't. During "The Revelation" he casts himself as a sort of second (non-bender) Avatar and performs his role perfectly for this part. But it could be considered somewhat treasonous not to mention megalomanic to say you get to decide what is right and wrong.

Another hype fanart picture of Amon.

http://k4ll0.deviantart.com/art/Amon-308167221

It is this middle ground that makes Amon such an intriguing and a great chracter. He has very good, the best even, intentions. He wants to make the world a better place for everyone. He wants equality. He is not selfish in his beliefs. But it is the way he goes about it that is what makes him the villian. But at the same time we must reason that if he did not do it by force, could he realistically achieve equality? The moral ambigiuity of his character is not only an interesting point in itself but it asks many philosophical questions. Is equality in a world where so much depends on birth ever actually possible? Should might ever be used to do what is perceived to be right? How far should punishments be pushed? Of course the show has one disappointing answers for us. No, equality is not achievable. It is just part of the word and we need to live with it. 

A recreation of one of Amon's posters.

http://www.zerochan.net/1116597

Lastly, Amon is also one of the more remarkable villians due to his exit from the series. He is killed by his brother Tarlok (the first time a family member has killed another family member in the Avatar series and thus a very poignant moment). He is not plotting his revenge, he is trying to just escape it all with his brother. He has lost his emotionless traits and finally seems human, shedding his sociopathic ways with his tears, something he hasn't really been since he was betrayed as such by his father. Emotions are always a way to be memorable and I think the writers did a good job in sending off a great character in this way.

Amon is human after all. Man tears make the great antagonists better. 

The antagonist in the newest season of Korra had shown some moral ambigiuty (and definitely the same amount of skill, cunning and background as Amon) but this moral ambigiuity has just been broken in the most recent (4th) episode, inspiring me to write this post, and so I think Amon will retain his position as my favourite villian of all time.

Unalak, you showed so much promise, but now you're just a man looking for power.

For a more detailed run through of Amon's traits, backstory and history etc see the following link:

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Amon

How should I feel? - La Maison en Petits Cubes (Tsumiki no Ie)

So originally this blog was intended to be a series of reviews as I journeyed through anime, but I think this is maybe a little boring. I don't really like to read reviews, and I just discovered I don't really like writing them. However, what I do like writing is more analytical pseud-essays. I do like to read these too. So this is what this blog will be, oh and the odd real life report if I see or do anything anime related. 

So the other day I was talking with my friend on skype and we were showing each other youtube clips as you do and I decided to get her to watch La Maison en Petits Cubes (Tsumiki no Ie). I thought it was a touching anime that was worthwhile for anyone to watch, plus it is easily accessible on youtube. So we stopped video calling and I let her watch the film and I decided to do the same having not watched it in a while. At this point I advise you to watch it too (not only for the story but also because of how it tells the story with no words and a great art style), becuase I will give a pretty detailed summary in order to talk about what I want to talk about. 

Anyway the short film, which incidentally won an Oscar for best animated short, is a just an old man and his home on this planet where the water levels keep rising. As they rise he is forced to build a new house, smaller than the last on top of his current home. He is doing this as his room is flooding until one day he drops his favourite smoking pipe down the trap door in the middle of his room. Each of his houses has one of these to connect it to the house below and above it. He tries to buy a new one but the ones on sale don't quite match so he decides to buy diving gear to find his pipe. As he finds it in the next lower level, he decides to open the trap door this house and each lower level, until he reaches his first house. As he goes through each house he reminisces about his life, backwards in stages as each house was a different part of his life. He remembers his wife dying, his grown-up children coming to visit him with their own children, his own children going off to school and finally, on ground level, his life growing up with his friend and eventually marrying her. The film ends with him and two wine glasses on his table, just as he had the first day he owned his house and was at dinner with his wife.

So we stopped watching and I video called my friend again only to find her crying. She said that the film was really sad but she had enjoyed it. We had a small discussion about why this was. She said it was because the man is basically just waiting to die and all he can do is remember the good times of his life, but they are only memories not his life. All he is doing is building an ever depressingly smaller house, waiting for death. The last scene just shows how memory is just a fleeting grasp for reality and for happiness which is ultimately not real. His memories are related to his loneliness, from how his daughter grows up and gets married and how his wife dies, leaving hm alone. This is only further emphasised by how we realise that when he goes under water there are more houses. This was a town, now it is just one old man. There is nothing beautiful about loneliness. All of this is something he had, but no longer. This is a very sad view of this, but one that does seem to come quite naturally and logically. I mean the first memory he has is of his wife dying, surely the saddest point in his life now that his children have moved out and he will be all alone. 

However, I feel as though I need to explain why I disagreed with her interpretation. I feel as though the man was not sad about his memories, he cherished them. He loved his pipe, he wanted to find it, but more than this, when he found it he didn't just resurface but he wanted to go further down and think about the rest of his life. Just the fact he went through all the hassel to buy a scuba suit and dive down instead of just buying a new one isn't just some nice sentimental action it is a way to show he is not depressed about death (he is happy with the life he has lived). This is the idea I got from the whole film. He was content with his lot in life. In a way he realises his death will come and he is (I wouldn't say ready for it or embracing it) but he is happy with what has life has given him. The last scene isn't a failed attempt to relive the best time in his life, it is a celebration and acknowledgement of it. In the end this makes me happy. Everyone is scared of death but this gives me joy that someone in their old age could be happy. Now I will make one admission, this being that the way his house is constantly shrinking and looks quite cell like is depressing. But he doesn't need an expansive living space, he realises his needs are less and is happy with a smaller house (showing his acceptance of his old age and not a depressed clinging to the past). 

A very nice piece of FanArt showing the last scene of La Maison en Petits Cubes. http://lamianqueen.deviantart.com/art/a-solo-celebration-303499713

So now I want some feedback from you. This is such a good and interpretative film all based on emotion. I mean all the photos on the wall could be interpreted either way really. So who do you agree with, not that there is a right opinion (but if there was one it would be mine)? Is he enviable or is he pitiable? Or both? Can we feel both sadness and happiness for the old man?

Links for the anime below:

http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=6395

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10654

http://www.anime-planet.com/anime/la-maison-en-petits-cubes

http://www.robot.co.jp/sp/

Pictures of Merchandise from the Ghibli exhibit

The merch I got, all pictures... few words. 

The Book of the Exhibit. I think (and hope) it has pictures of every layout on display.

Nausicaa and her pet squirrel fox thing, from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984). 

Obviously the castle city thing that is Laputa, from Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986).

Seita consoling his little sister Setsuko, from Grave of the Fireflies (1988).

Totoro about to call for that Cat-bus, from My Neighbour Totoro (1988).

Kiki lying on the ground listening to her radio, from Kiki's Delivery Service (1989).

Only Yesterday (1991)

Marco/Porco talking on the phone to Gina if I am not mistaken, from Porco Rosso (1992).

Rikako sitting down to talk to Taku, in Ocean Waves (1993)

Shoukichi and Okiyo with their children, from Pom Poko (1994).

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

The creepy (at first) forest spirit himes, from Princess Mononoke (1997).

My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999)

Chihiro looking at the bath-house of the spirits, from Spirited Away (2001).

The Baron riding Toto tracking the cats, from The Cat Returns (2002).

The walking castle strutting its stuff, from Howl's Moving Castle (2004).

Terrhu singing her lonely falcon song, from Tales of Earthsea (2006).

Ponyo and his friends/brothers are released, from Ponyo by the Sea (2008).

Shun riding home, from Up on Poppy Hill (2011). 

And last just some small tokens for my friend who couldn't come (hopefully they don't see all the stuff I bought for myself and get jealous).

At an end note, I was disappointed that there was no print from Arreitty, I checked... twice.

Studio Ghibli Layout Exhibition, in Seoul

Ok so I'm back from the Ghibli exhibit and all I can say is that I had a great time. It may not have been the most peaceful or relaxed museum visit I have been to but the exhibit was great. The broucher said there were something like 1300 layouts and something and boy were there a lot. Anyway now I'll recount my experience:

The ticket and small guide book. They look way cooler than any movie ticket you might get. Why??? Cos its Ghibli bitch!!

So I arrive at this museum, I don't understand any Korean but somehow find my way to the place where they sell tickets and point to the sign behind and say Ghibli (everything I say in Korea I hope people understand because he majority don't speak english and those that do find my accent hard as it's not American). I get the tickets and a waiting number, something like absurd and try to find the exhibit. Of course I don't follow the signs but the people in front of me who are actually going to a cafe but I see stickers of Susuwatari (those little black soot spiders in Totoro and Spirited Away) which lead me upstairs and to the exhibit. I had a quick nip into the giftshop before a wee wait and into the exhibit. I didn't have the patience to get a picture with the a cospay of the "Faceless Spirit" from Spirited Away nor to get a picture holding a bucket with Ponyo in it. I'm not one for pictures of myself. 

Thanks to the Susuwatari. Without your guidance I might still be lost in the museum. 

Ok so inside the first room was not so interesting, it was basically just the small guide book they gave us on the walls, so telling you what "pan" and "book" meant and why they were written on the layout. This was connected to a room with one picture from each movie in it. It was basically a taster for what was to come. It had the pictures that they show on websites and will promote with. It was connected to a room with layouts from Nausicaa. Many pictures of each of the characters and some of the more famous scenes. There were some cool pictures but the best bit had to be this three layout display which showed three pictures of Nausicaa's wind-glider blasting off and then above it was a monitoring showing the scene the drawings created... very cool.

 

Not a very exciting photo, but this was what the first room was like..... don't worry the pictures will get better, I hope.

Then it was onto the real exhibit. The first portion was based on Miyazaki's early works from 1986-92: Laputa, Porco Rosso, Kiki and of course Totoro. It was done in chronological order and again had framed pictures at chest height and arrows guided a line of people around all the layouts. There is not much to say about the singlie pictures other than that they very cool. I ddi get told off for taking pictures at this point. I think the museum staff memeber realised it was a genuine mistake and didn't do anything other than tell me off (I can't read Korena and there were no images of cameras with lines throguh them in my defense). It was really nice to be able to see these pictures in order and remember the scene and even remember the whole plot of the movie just by walking though a room. Again the coolest bits were multiple drawings with a monitoring showing the scenes they inspired. There was one of Laputa flying away after the final battle per se, one of Totoro calling for the cat bus thing, but the most impressive had to be the rather large drawing of an intersection where Kiki would fly through and the camera would follow her around the corner... sooo awesome. Also I think there were a couple of layouts from On Your Mark. I also think Ocean Waves and Whisper of the Heart were tacked on the end of this room but they didn't have many layouts. 

Not the best angle I'm sure, but this is the layout of Totoro calling the cat-bus that was animated on a nearby monitor. 

On to the next bit and this was a look at Takahata's works now. This section was fairly abandoned., I think mostly due to the fact Miyazaki's works overshadow Takahata's ones. This both saddened me but at the same time I could look at some picutres without feeling cramped in by all these couples (not so nice when you're alone). It had layouts from Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, Only Yesterday and My Neighbours the Yamadas. Again it was more of the same although there was only one animated piece on a monitor and this was from Neighbours the Yamadas, which I was disappointed about. Takahata's section paled in comparison to Miyazaki's one in terms of quantity. I think this was just a biproduct of Miyazaki's films being more inventive in terms of creating wierd and wonderful creatures and places, like Totoro or Laputa. 

Didn't have a good pic of Takahata's layouts so I just thought I'd give some space to what I think is one of the best animated films of all time, Grave of the Fireflies. 

However, the next part was breathe-taking. It displayed what could be seen as the golden period of Ghibli productions, 1997-2005. It had the more famous Ghibli films Spirited Away, Howl, Mononoke and the underrated The Cat Returns. The first room had a collection of Mononoke layouts. Individual pictures were placed on the outside walls and told the story and in the centre of the room was a glass table with several of the more famous shots inside. This led onto the Spirited Away room. Here three walls were completely filled with pictures (they had done away with the frames and like pinned them to corkboards behind glass it seemed) and an interview with Miyazaki which I couldn't understand (even with the immensely helpful Korean subs). There were so many pictures I wnet through the sort of parade of looking at them 3 times just so I could see all of them properly. This led into a corridor recreating the corridor leading up to Yubaba's office, which I didnt much care for. The Cat Returns got its own few pictures leading up to the final of Ghibli's big three, Howl's Moving Castle. This was sort of set out like the Mononoke room but it had an animated piece of the castle walking like the other monitors. 

The Room for Spirited Away died down but man were there a lot of pictures to see here.

The movies that were produced later than Howl were given some attention but not much. Earthsea had several pictures, Ponyo too had barely ten but it did have a cool animated piece and a really nice colourful painting of a background on display. This then led into a room, far too big for however many pictures it contained, showing the stuff Miyazaki and Takahata had worked on prior to Ghibli or rather prior to Nausicaa. There were maybe one, two or three at most layouts from things like Lupin III, Heidi A Girl of the Alps, Sherlock Hound, 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, Conan, Downtown Story and maybe a few before. I had not seen any of these to be honest but at least it gives me some ideas of what to look for on a boring weekend. Anyway the last wee bit had again no more than ten pictures from each Poppy Hill and Arreitty. Although I was dissappointed by this I was surpised to see a few layouts from Miyazaki's newest film The Wind Rises as well as a poster for that and Takahata's 2013 project The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. 

Ghibli's two newest films. So so so so hyped for this!!!!!

You would think this would be the end of the exhibit but it was not. Well actually it was but there were two important rooms I visited afterwards. First this really cool room that had a neat idea and just ran with it. Basically there were tables with stickes (blank stickers) and vivids. You were encouraged to write or draw and message and stick it on the wall. This room was packed. Coming on one of the last days this rooms looked amazing, all the walls of what was a fairly large room were covered with these stickers. It was just amazing to see. In the middle of the room was this optical trick thing where if you took a picture from the right angle you would look like you're on Totoro's belly. Again cool but I have no desire for selfies. The last thing I had to do on this day trip was vist the gift store. It was packed more with people just looking at stuff, because there was everything there: plushies, figurines, puzzles, playing cards, calendars, notebooks, postcards, a lot of expensive porcelain stuff I think, books, CDs and most important of all prints of some of the layouts. I just had to buy these, and the book of course. I will post a follow blog with pictures of all the prints I got and I got quite a few. 

So This is what I mean by the final room had such a wicked idea that was really well executed.

So overall it was a really fun day out and well worth the 15000won it cost to get in. I throughly enjoyed the day and it has inspired me to rewatch all the Ghibli films and I shall be reviewing them on this blog in chronological order, because why the hell not. 

Tops:

- Remembering all the films that I love. It was great to go through the pictures and remember the film. Especially for Mononoke, I love that movie. 

- Thinking I am soo close to something that is potentially hand drawn by Miyazaki himself. Seeing things like tape residue that had discoloured certain bits of the paper really stood out to me. I was there next to the things that had created this masterpieces. It was almost like being in the Capitoline Museum again, almost. 

-Huge extensive collection of drawings from what are definitely the best films Ghibli has made: Mononoke, Howl and Spirited Away. These films had absolutely massive rooms and for good reason. They were packed but the layouts were so cool. The concepts deserved such attention. 

- The last room with stickers and messages. Such a cool idea and man if I could read Korean I would have spend ages there. So many cool little fan drawings and stuff, really great idea.

- The prints on sale. Look out for the next post for pictures of these but there were so many that were so cool I just had to get them.

My receipt for the stuff I bought. Check out the next post for pics. 

Slops:

- Not being able to take pictures. I understand the reasons for it but really who cares. No one's going to steal the ideas and do something like make a film, it's already been done. they probably just want to sell more books, and I'll tell you what, they found one sucker right here. A happy sucker though.

- The fucking heat. It was crowded, Seoul is hot at the moment, and there was little evidence of any aircon systems for whatever reason. By god was it hot. Well maybe it wasn't too bad but it still could have been better. 

- Crowds. When something is this popular I suppose I shouldn't complain when I am one of the faceless shlubs in the crowd but man why did they have to be there when I was. 

Lines kinda suck, in all situations really, but especially this place. 

If you made it this far, cheers for reading. Here are some other cool pics as a reward I suppose. 

A Ghibli Weekend for Chuseok

I suppose I should introduce myself. I am James, an English teacher living in Seoul. Basically at the moment its Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). All of my friends here are spending time with their relatives it seems, going to their grandpas' houses for food and to relax with extended family I imagine. So what's there to do for me (having recently here from New Zealand)? Well I looked up on the internet and saw there was a exhibitoion on in Seoul showing all these, no so much concept art drawings, but layouts of shots, which were hand-drawn, for various Studio Ghibli films (Mononoke, Spirited Away, Laputa, Nausicaa, Ponyo, etc.). So being an anime fan I thought I'd go check it out tomorrow as the last day is on Sunday (22nd Sept). 

So why start a blog? Hmmm, maybe this isn't so much for outside readers, I don't expect this to be a big thing or anyone to read this actually (but if you are lucky you). This is more for myself, a sort of private reference guide for anime so I can see which ones I like and don't like as I watch and rewatch anime and make blog reviews here. So I thought I'd do it on the internet as first I don't have to have any files and sort them into a folder and second I hope that I can help some anime lovers find some new shows they had not heard of before. If there is one thing you should know about me is that I love altnerative animes like the Diary of Tortov Roddle (no notTom  Riddle, Harry Potter is for nerds.... unless it becomes an anime then it would be hype).  So yeah I'll write again tomorrow hopefully. Bye.