I don’t really have a whole lot to say about that episode of Gegege no Kitarou, so I won’t try and fake it. Kind of silly and pretty uninspired, and – while I admit the goggles may be coloring my vision now, though I don’t think so – there’s a bit of an ugly side creeping into this series’ nostalgia for Japanese things. The idea of Japanese customs under threat from foreign ideas and goods is a very old and very sinister one, and not to be taken lightly even when played for comedy – it’s been used as a main justification for keeping this country rigidly isolationist for most of its history.
Final thought – like Agnes, I like the custard-filled sweets better than the adzuki-filled ones. Suck on that.
A.Sade
November 5, 2018 at 10:56 pmI still look forward to your GnK posts, but gee, it sure feels different from the first few glorious cours, huh?
Guardian Enzo
November 6, 2018 at 6:24 amLike somebody flipped a switch.
Eugene
November 11, 2018 at 4:30 amWell, being fair, for most of history Japan- and other nations in the orient- did have very good reasons to be suspicious of foreign ideas and customs.
And local concepts becoming either overridden or being overshadowed by western concepts and culture is a very real thing across many asian nations. Here in Singapore we don’t really care as we never had much unique heritage to start with, but an older and more prideful nation like Japan it is a legitimate concern that shouldn’t be immediately dismissed as xenophobia, especially if its done so in a more comedic approach anyhow.
I agree, of course, that such things have to be approached with a light touch, and probably it isn’t the place of a kid’s cartoon to seriously discuss and satirize. But I do feel there’s a difference between gung-ho nationalist xenophobia and fears for the culture of one’s country.