×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
INTEREST: Sumire Uesaka Reveals Sadistic Side at Witch Exhibit




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
KutovoiAnton



Joined: 03 Mar 2013
Posts: 963
Location: Vladimir, Russia
PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:48 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
She said with a smile that she once wanted to torture someone a long time ago. "But I grew up and realized that you need money for torture."


She has money now. Just saying Very Happy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MajinAkuma



Joined: 15 Aug 2014
Posts: 1199
PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:50 pm Reply with quote
She is an S.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Jose Cruz



Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 1809
Location: South America
PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:42 pm Reply with quote
Voice actresses don't make that much money though.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 5:31 pm Reply with quote
I would love to participate in S&M with her. She also drinks vodka sometimes because I've seen pics of her drinking it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 5:32 pm Reply with quote
Were there "witches" or their equivalent in Japanese culture?

I've seen a few of the proto-anime from the 70's that had demonic witch-like sorceresses, so I assume there's some sort of root, but most of the influence seems to be from Western culture and fairytales.
Little Witch Sally was one of the very early children's-anime series, long before Kiki, but that was in the magical-girl genre, long before Kiki brought the European black dress and broom, from a book author who was trying to imitate the Swedish Astrid Lindgren style.
Otherwise, there's an evil-spirit obaba filling in for the Three Witches when Kurosawa took on Macbeth in "Throne of Blood", but that's just another attempt to understand English legend.

(One good viewing, for those who have the Criterion collection on Hulu is the silent documentary "Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages"--Which despite the title, does a surprisingly contemporary social deconstruction of the mechanics of how Europe used "witch hunts" to dump all their problems on the poor, elderly and lower-class fringe, when they couldn't explain a famine or disease outbreak.
That was certainly considered society's "necessary evil" at the time, but it's not quite as necessary when examined closer.)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Errinundra
Moderator


Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6607
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 6:34 pm Reply with quote
^

Apparently Bewitched was popular in Japan. Its influence on Witch Girl Sally is apparent.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
DRosencraft



Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 676
PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:26 pm Reply with quote
@EricJ2, There are "witches", the beings of societal reality, and then there are "Witches", the beings of fantasy and folklore.

The "Witch" in Christian-based theology is a woman who has made a contract with the devil or with demons in order to gain powers no human should have, these powers often aimed at controlling/subverting the will of humanity and twisting the laws of God's creation. In short, witches are evil because they are in concert with the devil and his demons, and no good can come of consorting with the ultimate evil.

The societal "witch" is merely any person who fails to conform to the prevailing norms of the society in which they live, or run afoul of the leadership within that society. Really the term witch when applied this way is the same as "demon" or "monster", and usually you'll see modern tales of beings that fall under this heading as being just that - misunderstood outcasts reviled by those in power.

As it applies to anime, often the distinction between "magical girl" and "witch" is lost since the terms are used interchangeably, and the origin concept is not directly transferable, and when applied is done liberally. It is a similar issue with "monster" in western culture, and "monster" in eastern, or the use of "God". Even in Madoka, one of the few series that comes close to depicting a "witches=evil" story, Kyuubey isn't "evil" so much as it is amoral relative to humanity. He's hardly "the Devil".

Moreover, the devil himself has received a redone persona in many modern iterations, such that "Demon Lord" is now a title aspired to, rather than "king of all that is evil therefore you should avoid becoming". The Devil is often framed as sympathetic, sometimes outright heroic. Well, if he isn't evil, then there's no reason to think anyone that he has helped would necessarily be evil either. Given that in Japan in particular, deities are deemed forces of the natural world, imperfect beings liable to make the same follies as humanity, (counter to Christianity wherein God is a perfect being), the villain figures are liable to also exhibit similar ambiguous traits.

Even in Maria the Virgin Witch, a series that delved into the role of witches, angels, and religion, in the wars between France and England, made Maria not a being that gained her powers from the Devil, but left that origin ambiguous, and in fact made the source of her power a Christian virtue of chastity.

Given all these circumstances, the idea of magic and witchcraft, particularly the further away you get from western culture, is more often seen as anywhere from mere fancy of the loner sect, to trivial fantasy of the everyday. A voice actress in Japan can say stuff like this and her popularity will likely rise. Someone in a similar place in western society says the same thing and you'd likely rarely see them get any serious work in the future. It's why series like Pokemon get blow-back in the US when they first sprout up and start promoting the idea of friendly, pet-like, monsters. Monsters, in most monotheistic practices, aren't merely supernatural animals, they're creations of evil. Witches aren't just women with supernatural, magical, powers. They're corrupted agents of evil. Rare in western culture will you see a character like Bewitched, or even the Good Witch characters. Heck, a political candidate in the US a few years back had to make an ad declaring herself not to be a witch for fear that letting the rumor linger would torch her campaign (though she lost anyway as I recall).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:50 am Reply with quote
A bit surprising that Sumire-chan had an interest for instruments of torture... I get a bit rattled just looking at that choke pair, even if it may be a scary display item.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 4:35 am Reply with quote
Jose Cruz wrote:
Voice actresses don't make that much money though.

There's a theory on Japanese otaku forums that she's from a rich family, based on the pictures she posts from her parents' house. Based on what she says here, torture implements is where her parents draw the line in funding her weird hobbies Smile Well, at least she has her endless gothic lolita outfits, and her military paraphernalia, and her Russian studies university degree...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
AnimeLordLuis



Joined: 27 Jan 2015
Posts: 1626
Location: The Borderlands of Pandora
PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 7:01 am Reply with quote
Must be the season of the witch. Wink
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group