Castenell, Dee - Ninja Scroll..Gateway influencing modern anime

  

Jubei, the main character of Ninja Scroll. From NYSDM.

        

  The anime film Ninja Scroll represented many features differing quite a bit from the movie viewed last week (Akira).  Included in the movie are trademarks of Shinto-ism and governmental history dealing with Japan’s past issues. Aside from that, it portrays some religious inklings regarding Christianity considering the main enemies in the movie were all demons seeming to possess or portray one or more of Christianity’s seven deadly sins.

        

Kagero (not you standard run- o- the mill gal)
*Warning: Do Not Attempt anything Sexual with her*

   

  The movie in general was quite fast-paced, and towards the 2^nd half of the movie, it almost seemed as though they were rushing to wrap up the movie. So in this film, the major characters include, Jubei, Kagero, Dakuan, Chamberlain of the Mochizuki clan, Genma, and his 7 demons. To briefly describe them all; Jubei is portrayed as the epitome of what a man should be, strong, good-looking, and compassionate. Kagero is the main female of the film who is strong, full of emotions, and a key helper to the plot and development of the story. Dakuan is an elderly spy for the Tokugawa government; surprisingly he possesses great ability as a ninja. He aids Jubei and Kagero in return for their help. The Chamberlain is the leader of a small clan, although wanting to expand his clan; he cares very little for the lives of comrades or the well-being of anyone of lesser power. Phew…Lastly, we have Genma who is leader of this rogue group named the Devils of Kimon. He desperately wants to overthrow the Tokugawa government and seize control over the land.

            Now that all those characters have been mentioned… Its time to talk about what I had thought of saying. Many elements involved in this movie have been a major influence to modern day ninja anime’s. For example, the concept of ninja possessing abilities such as controlling shadows, shapeshifting, summoning, and much more are all portrayed in later top of the market animes such as Naruto, Bleach, and Full Metal Alchemist. Most of the shonen manga and anime represent those abilities and also the concepts of incorporating Shintoism. Shintoism is quite heavily expressed in the anime Bleach seeing as they use so many key objects in the Shinto faith such as special Gates and their views on the afterlife and death in opposition to Buddhism. To refrain from making anyone read further, considering I’m fully prepared to write a whole 1000+ word paper just talking about comparisons and portrayals of different aspects, I’ll wrap up by just mentioning that the idea of seven deadly sins exhibiting different demons is seen quite vividly in the anime Full Metal Alchemist.

    

          

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        Oh and yes, overall, I did enjoy the movie Ninja Scroll…although it was a bit out of the norm to see the stretch of imagination of some anime writers considering they put a demon-rape scene in the movie. I guess everyone has their own unique fantasies.

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Castenell- Akira

                     This video is a great portrayal of the incredible art work and NeoTokyo and                         h                                                    how society has changed for the worse.

Recently, I have viewed the anime film Akira. It takes place in Neo Tokyo, which has been devastated by a bomb of sorts. In my opinion, the main characters were easy to get familiar with thanks to the directing and camera shots of the anime. In the beginning it is pure chaos and pandemonium switching between gangs and a torn up society to seemingly innocent men dying to protect loved ones. Tetsuo, the main character, developed into a predictable figure. An overshadowed, under-appreciated, feeble member of a motorcycle gang turned against society once he obtained such immense power that there was nothing to stand in his way. Personally, I enjoyed watching the development of the embodied rage within Tetsuo.

Taken from L2D's Tumblr

                                         



There were some other notable characters to me as well. The General, who was a relic of the past attempting to change the terrible conditions and overwhelming greed that had consumed the individuals who were supposedly "running the city". Like some other anime's, this one seemed to portray the General as a man who most would consider not a "good" character. Even though he made some tough choices, he was spared a brutal death...unlike the other officials.
      Overall, I enjoyed Akira. It was quite confusing at the start but after the first 20 minutes or so, everything became clear and it followed the set path of an apocalyptic style movie. Even though I did not fully understand the ending of the movie, it portrayed a good story and the outstanding art work throughout the movie impressed me a great deal.
                   

Castenell - Introduction to Me

     

My full name is Amadee Joseph Castenell the third. My father is a phenomenal musician who is known quite well by many jazz greats and older locals in the New Orleans area. I am hoping to follow in his footsteps considering I have been blessed with some musical talent from him. Currently, I am majoring in Music Therapy to combine the efforts of my talent with the betterment of life for others. I very much enjoy playing my instruments; which include the clarinet (primary), flute, oboe, saxophone and piano. I am also a hardcore video-gamer, both console and computer.

As far as my life goes, I was born and raised in New Orleans up until the age of ten.  At that time, my mother passed away in her battle for cancer. From that point on I moved up to Massachusetts to live with my father. While trying to cope with the loss of the most loving and caring person I have ever known, my mother, I was also faced with hurricane Katrina ravaging the city where all my childhood friends were. After frantically searching for the some sign from my childhood friends, I received notice from the news about the deceased and unfortunately, all of my friends from my younger years were on the list of the dead. The change was incredibly difficult in all manners.  After struggling to fit in, I finally persevered and established my spot within the school system and town I lived in. It was a pleasure to come back to New Orleans for college seeing as I remember great memories from my childhood and seeing the city gives proof to all those past experiences.  

Although I have endured much depression and hardships throughout my life thus far, I have been able to sway from the negative and lean solely towards the positives. I was able to meet life-long friends in the town I moved to in Massachusetts and form bonds with teachers, friends, and the overall communities I encountered. I hope to make in positive impact on the individuals I encounter in my years of life to come.  Through music and a loving community, I have been able to become the person I am today and enjoy the days ahead of me.