Silver Spoon Response

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

Silver spoon is a fascinating read- I originally wasn't too sold on the manga as I had no idea what it was about and sort of jumped into it blind, but I find myself understanding and sympathizing with the main character a lot which is what more or less hooked me in. Hachiken, the main character, arrives at this agricultural school in the middle of nowhere with no set goals in mind. He's surrounded by people with agricultural expertise ranging from farming experience to veterinarian experience and more, whereas he has a completely different skillset than the rest of them due to how and where he grew up. Overall, I really liked the direction that the manga was going in, as you can already tell from the first 6 or 7 chapters that there is major character development as Hachiken gets more involved in his activities and goes out of his way to try to know his fellow classmates. I'm stuck wondering what sorts of issues he will be running into, and also wonder how he is going to adapt to the farm life as time goes on, as these sorts of stories are never all fun and games. The story is already pitching ideas of survival of the fittest using the animals as examples, and slowly but surely there seems to be an evolving underlying theme of "kill or be killed", where your best might just not be good enough as results are what matters above all else.

2. What connections did you make with the story? (Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect)

As briefly mentioned above, I was able to connect with Hachiken the most, as he came into the school with little to no experience. Similarly to my experiences freshman year at Ringling, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, as I had essentially no traditional art knowledge compared to everyone else who had these major aspirations and dreams already. I sort of figured out what it was that I wanted to do along the way, but it was definitely a struggle similarly to how Hachiken feels as he compares himself to the weakest piglet on the ranch, and you watch him sort of run around aimlessly as he attempts to do the best work he can possibly do while being completely inexperienced. In a way, I was also able to sympathize with some of the other characters as they briefly mentioned their overall goals for coming to this agricultural school: some people more or less did not have a choice as they put on themselves this sort of responsibility to take care of the ranch as the next in line, whether because this felt like their only option, or they simply felt the need to take over responsibilities because their mother was dying. This really resonated with me as I know of some friends in Taiwan that were forced into similar situations, one notably being unable to go to college because she was required to take over her father's shop.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

If I had the option to choose, I would probably adapt Silver Spoon into a visual novel. On one hand, while most visual novel experiences focus very heavily on romance, there's a certain aspect that is simply relationship-building, even if just on a friendship level. By turning the story into a visual novel, the player would be able to choose where they want to spend their time throughout the day, thus overall changing the outcome of who they get to meet, and also potentially changing the main character's career path by having him focus on being a vet, or being a farmer. Having the freedom to go wherever allows for different endings and getting to learn different characters (and you may not learn about other ones depending on who you choose to spend your time with), and ultimately allows for a lot more variety than what is set in stone through the manga.

Week Twelve: Shonen + Seinen

Shonen and Seinen are surprisingly far more fascinating to me than Shojo and Josei, despite being intended more for men. Perhaps it is because of the fact that these types of manga and anime are typically more action-packed rather than romance-oriented. While romance is still present, typically it is not the main focus, or are typically just harems which I tend to avoid due to lack of interest. There are always exceptions to these types of shows, of course, but I will not be focusing on any of those.

There are two shows that I want to cover in this post, as they are both Shonen but drastically different: Fullmetal Alchemist, and Lucky Star.


Fullmetal Alchemist is in my top three favorite anime of all time, solely because of its excellent story writing. This is one of the longer series out there, but because of the writing style and nature of the plot, time flies super fast while watching the show. This is one of the few anime that actually wraps up almost all of its plot points, leading into a solid conclusion with no potential for a sequel, whereas lots of anime tend to end on some sort of open-ended note, and for something that the viewer can think on.
Fullmetal Alchemist is so special because it does a stellar job at incorporating magic at a scientific level, making it more believable with hints of realism. Overall, it is heavily action-packed and often leaves the viewer very emotional or on the edge of their seat. On top of the stellar plot and very deep character development that goes on throughout the entirety of the show, the animation is also top notch and very pleasing to watch. This is one anime that I really don't want to spoil the plot for, but also really recommend as a beautiful classic.


To contrast the serious and beautifully-written Fullmetal Alchemist, I also want to talk about Lucky Star. This show is considered to be part of the slice of life genre, which can be watched basically from any episode, and in no distinct order. What makes Lucky Star so special is not the unique storytelling, as there is no amazing plot that links all of the characters and overall story together in a unique message. Instead, Lucky Star relies extremely heavily on its comedic value and constantly clashing character. The show contains absolutely no drama, no fighting, no tension: it's just straight up comedy, and that's what makes the show so enjoyable. There is lots of Japanese culture trickled into the show, which is also a nice plus.

Week Eleven: Cyberpunk (Made in Abyss Presentation + Censorship)

For this week's topic on Cyberpunk, I had a presentation. I focused specifically on Made in Abyss and relations to the topic of Censorship in Anime & Manga (As well as overall Censorship in creative mediums). The presentation can be found here. 


For the presentation, I covered a general overview of the anime Made in Abyss, a beautiful but incredibly dark anime filled with nihilistic and pseudo horror elements, mixed in-between moments of exploration, joy and action. This anime in particular allowed for the perfect segway into a topic of censorship because of the fact that it focuses heavily around young children and includes moments of violence and slight sexualization. 

I wanted to keep this presentation as unbiased as possible, in order to compare and contrast arguments for and against censorship of Anime & Manga. In order to do this, I referenced several court cases and bills taking place in both Japan and the United States. I wanted to reference other places, but for the sake of keeping the presentation at a reasonable length, I stayed a bit specific. 

These were the trials, bills and acts that I referenced in the presentation(in order):

• Misshitsu/Honey Room (2002 - 2007)
• The Tokyo Assembly Bill 156
• Texas v. Castillo (2000)
• The PROTECT Act of 2003
• U.S. v. Whorley (2006)
• U.S. v. Handley (2006)
• R. v. Matheson (2010)

These were my overall takeaways from censorship in Anime & Manga:

The Pros: 
    - Inhibits growth of child pornography culture
    - Prevents children from early exposure to these mediums
    - Promotes ethically less contentious content in media

The Cons:
    - Manga and anime are fictional, censorship stifles creativity
    - Slippery slope argument
    - Stifles freedom of expression
    - Does it hurt anyone? No solid research to back this, similar to violence in video games argument
    - Censorship creates underground markets for unwanted media
    - Double standards for canonized literature
    - Encourages ignorance
    - Misunderstanding content and culture

Week Nine: Shojo + Josei

Before taking this class, I had known what Shojo was, but was not really aware of Josei's existence. I had heard of the term before, but generally manga and anime seem to be sorted into the Shojo category instead of the Josei category. Because of this, I decided to do some extra research on the differences between Shojo and Josei, for my own sake:

I found that Josei was more similar to Seinen in the idea that the romantic relationships between characters are more realistic, and less idealistic like Shojo. Josei targets older women and typically are about women and only women, and are typically more explicit, which explains why I was not really aware of the genre. Josei also seems to stay in manga form and typically does not become anime, which I found to be interesting.

I was originally going to talk about Ouran High School Host Club as it is a Shojo manga, but seeing as I covered it during the Romance week, I decided to talk about Puella Magi Madoka Magica instead.



Puella Magi Madoka Magica is part of the magical girl genre, a sub-genre of Shojo. What makes Madoka Magica such an insightful and unique show is the underlying darkness that comes along with such a cutesy, happy-looking anime. Instead of being your typical magical girl style anime, this anime probably fits better under the category of Dark Fantasy. Right off the bat, the show instantly delves you into the question of what it means to be a Magical Girl, depicting the idea to be both harrowing and dream-crushing. Everyone that has devoted themselves into becoming a magical girl gets trapped in this unbreakable cycle of life or death: the idea that they must defeat witches in order to both save themselves, and save the world. Defeating witches allows them to purify their "soul gem", both their source of power and where their actual soul ends up. However, failure to purify soul gems turns the magical girl into the very witch they are fighting, so there is no winning. The system is inherently broken and as the plot develops, people's individual hopes are dreams are twisted and shifted in ways that are hard to explain or justify without watching the show. Overall, Madoka Magica is a horrifying masterpiece in the way it delivers hope, despair and sacrifice through its plot and character development, and is definitely a show worth watching.

Week Eight: Diversity of Gender + Sexuality

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi was a very powerful read. I found that a lot of her personal experiences resonated with me, and as a result I was really able to sympathize with a lot of her feelings. Tackling loneliness while progressing through adulthood was a big one for me, as I often find myself wondering what the future holds, and whether or not I'll be able to maintain the friendships that I have with my limited social skills. This transition into adulthood while also tackling mental illness strikes is very important and relevant, and reading about her struggles and her newfound hope and experiences really gave me hope for the future, as all of this is very real and it is, in a way, comforting to see someone share their thoughts and own personal experiences to the world.

Loneliness is a sort of universal experience that everyone feels from time to time, some to a more extreme level than others. A few months ago, Kurzgesagt published a YouTube video on the topic of Loneliness, which can be found here. I felt this to be extremely insightful despite not being directly related to manga, as it is a feeling that everyone goes through but for some reason also has trouble talking about.

Another element of the manga that made its impact so great was the fact that the author spoke about her personal battles and feelings throughout multiple years of her life. Going in depth about personal struggles and thoughts towards overcoming it both emphasizes the rougher portions of her life while also talking about a more positive outlook, and methods towards bettering herself. At one point in the Manga, Kabi talks about how being 'Lazy' and being 'Unable to work' were similar, but different. Overall, it came back to taking care of herself, which is a strong and encouraging message.

Week Six: Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli as a whole has always been known for their beautiful art style, mixed in with immersive realism in the form of heavy worldbuilding and stunning animation. Ghibli films in particular display a sort of finesse and strict attention to detail that isn't necessarily seen in a lot of other films. As a result, they are very good at bringing stories to life. There is always some sort of established society and infrastructure in any piece they create, and this attention to detail brings the stories to life in a very real and interactive way, regardless of how fantastical. The world extends beyond the frame and feels like it exists, even with elements of fiction scattered about. Even the way that characters interact with the environment feels constantly flowing and consistent, with grounded movement, heavy with gravity and momentum in every action.
A good example of attention to detail would be a scene in Spirited Away, where Chihiro puts on her shoes before running off. Instead of just sticking her feet in the shoes, she bends down and adjusts them to fit properly, before tapping her other foot on the ground. This additional element is only one of many examples for why these films feel so alive.



Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind felt both ahead of its time and very beautiful in both style and storytelling with its depiction of insects in a better light, and an underlying theme of senseless war with polluted environment. The book seemed to cover a lot of indepth themes in regard to people's feelings towards war, as well as overall elements of toxicity and overall had a lot of worldbuilding that captivates the reader as they learn more about what is going on. I really enjoyed reading Nausicaä, and while I didn't have a chance to finish reading it, I definitely will do so in the future.