I’m sure many of you can relate to this subculture of choice.

——

So much for the Human Monument project. 

When society is in the scope of a larger doom, it’s dishearteningly enlightening to see how the revival of the manga is the answer to bringing people together, or as fierce rivals. Not that I have a problem with that, but just like Mediator, I’d be very skeptical and dubious about the wave of fanatics indulging in this guilty pleasure genre. I wouldn’t touch the publications but not because it has a lot of homoerotic content but because it isn’t all that relevant to humanity’s decline. Or perhaps the manga fad was the reason for the downfall. Explains the magical blank panel. Watch out guys and girls. The fairies are plotting something again. 

In this episode, I felt like they ran quite far with the manga thing. Instigated by “Y” (Sawashiro Miyuki) and followed by other rabid fangirls, the craze dashed into nothing short of complete otaku-ism all within the season. It’s not totally a bad idea, though, to poke fun at its own sibling medium, get away with little things like copyrights and trademarks (because who’s checking) and totally brandish this still awesome concept of the imagination. Y’s entrepreneurship is something to marvel at; it is because of her passion and brilliance that the convention has been brought back to life and with much, much success. I guess my only gripe would have to do with the singular boys love genre but hey, humanity has declined so I’ll look past that to get on the same page with the anime. 

But imagine if Y managed to use the shouta icon of the series and sell that kind of stuff. Who needs straight anyway? 

Judging from a long intro to the real problem at hand, it’s a wonder what the fairies are cooking up in regards to the revived manga phase. Other serious matters like printing, distribution and circulation were touched upon but they don’t contribute to that mystical magic panels left for those who enter to fill in. If this is anything like the secret factory, the blank manga should be something of a riot, if not better because it’s something we can relate to better. (Real life problem: they’re both poorly paying jobs — at least, poorly conditioned.) 

So now that the human side has been trending, what lies on the fairy side begs to be interpreted. And more of Mediator’s side comments are necessary, even as she snaps in that white emptiness. 

GO Rating: 3.5/5

I wish I could read my own caption bubble or have my reactions written out for me above my head.