So I watched the RWBY V8 finale yesterday, and…besides being not okay, I’m fucking tired.
I’m taking a moment to rant, because this episode really bothered me. As someone who started watching this show in ~2015, I feel like I’ve invested a good chunk of time in the series. For fans who enjoyed V8 and are looking forward to V9–I’m happy for you, I am. And I completely respect your opinion.
But personally, I couldn’t stand this last episode.
Denji is an incredible protagonist for one simple reason:
He is SO respectful.
He’s a horny touch starved teenage boy. He’s a pervert, he thinks about sex and girls all the time. His entire goal in life at one point was to touch some boobs.
And yet never, EVER, has Denji violated anyone’s consent. Ever.
He’s never peeped on anyone. Never groped anyone against their will. Never took pictures or even really gawked at anyone. He’s had sexual thoughts about almost every woman he’s met, sure, but he never acted on it without some form of consent.
The most he’s done is make deals with various girls about doing various things with them … Thing is, it was usually offered to him BY the girls.
Power offered him to let him touch her chest if he helped - and when he did, Denji did not even bring it up again until she did. He didn’t demand she uphold her side of the deal nor even really mentioned it - she could’ve just let it pass and he wouldn’t say a word.
Himeno offered to kiss him if they made it out of the hotel. Again, Denji didn’t bring it up until she did, though he was considerably enthusiastic about it.
Makima offered him ‘anything’, and Denji decided to ask for sex - however he checked and double checked if that would, in fact, be okay to ask. (And he didn’t even end up asking for it).
He’s a genuinely believeable teenage boy, he’s gonna be horny, he’s gonna think about sex, but he’s also a NICE teenage boy, and he has no desire to make anyone uncomfortable.
And the author doesn’t see sexual assault as a hahah funny !!!
Denji is proof that you can write a likable pervert character.
stories about time travel are about two things. number one is inevitable tragedy. number two is seeing that inevitable tragedy and saying oh god I will make this right please even if I can’t fix it I will try to make this right. also I lied they’re about three things and third is obviously love
Pepper: What are you doing? That’s one of Tony’s attack drones! It’ll destroy everything in this park! Harley: …oh. Harley, to Peter: Did you know that? Peter: No I did not. Harley: Yeah we didn’t know that. Peter: It’s okay! We’ll just use the controller to land it. Harley, where’s the controller? Harley: I don’t have it. I thought you had it. Peter: I don’t have it. Harley: Yeah we don’t have it.
Tobey!Peter: I’m so tired I could eat a horse. Andrew!Peter: I identify as a horse and this offends me. Tom!Peter: I identify as offends and this horses me. Tobey!Peter: I offend horses identify me. Stephen: Hold on. Stephen, to Tobey!Peter: Why would you eat a horse if you were tired?
i already said this at some point, but the thing about kase-san is not just that many ppl who usually speak abt wanting more wlw rep (in anime) are strangely silent. it’s the fact that the production literally released the mv along with a statement that, if this were to get lots of attention, they may be able to create a full-fledged anime (be it an ova or 12 episodes). they obviously have a lot of passion for it to create the mv, and release it like this.
but it lies in stark contrast to the force that is yuri on ice fandom, that was so popular that it broke past typical anime fans and into the mainstream, to professional figure skaters and people who had never watched anime before. many yoi posts on here had 20k+ notes. along with that, people talked endlessly about its progressive importance. that people should support it because its representation is groundbreaking and meaningful.
i feel a certain way about that, but i’m gonna leave that to the side, because what’s really important here is: why now, after all this buzz about representation and the inevitable “we want lesbians too,” is there such a stunning lack of response?
of course i’m sure it’s already obvious, and a lacking response is better than no response, but it’s painful specifically because of what it means when they are explicitly looking for an audience to prove, without even asking for money, that they wish to see it come to fruition. all they’re really asking for is support in the way of watching the video, spreading it, talking about it on social media, etc. and yet these ppl who claim to care SO MUCH about wlw representation, predictably… don’t seem to care at all.
western fans are generally second to japanese fans, for understandable reasons, but imagine the impact it would have if there was even a fraction of support for kase-san that yuri on ice had. i wish that we lived in a climate where ppl didn’t just say they want lesbian rep for sj brownie points, but meant it, too.
