i really adored that scene in and of itself but i also really liked that she notably isn't wearing the eye shadow during the party. it didn't make her feel good so she didn't wear it, and she's no less feminine for it. and even the bit with the corset! it resonated immediately with me as a depiction of the frankly painful shit women sometimes have to do to appear feminine. i just, ugh. cannot lavish enough praise on that entire sequence. i'm not shocked that it's a standout exception in tomino's works but it does make it more remarkable that it happened like this. i'm honestly so curious as to how it came about (even though i agree with your "death of the author" standpoint here for obvious reasons).
we can dream of a world where this got a faithful, cowboy bebop-level dub. i honestly think you're spot on that it would have cracked hella eggs, ESPECIALLY given the utter lack of comedic tone that almost all genderbending anime included as a standard (though ofc stuff like ranma still cracked more eggs than an omelet factory). i'm also curious as to whether or not it made a splash on early japanese fora/message boards or something, but trying to find out is well beyond my abilities sadly.
and yeah guin at first came off in a totally different way than he does post-realization. when he just abruptly decided to start calling her laura i thought his explanation was genuinely kind of amusing ("i just think it's more suitable!") but in retrospect his need to force aspects of her identity to suit him feel vile. i'm looking forward to episode 8 now, i have been p busy and i've got a few hectic days coming up but i can't wait for when i have some time to sit down with it again. :3 also yes keith is a precious lil bread boy, it's kind of adorable that he's just like "hmmm war is brewing? i think i'm gonna bake bread. people gotta eat!" i also liked that fran was the only person to recognize laura. even harry who was like four feet away from her just an episode or two ago was totally oblivious. that one little moment really helped expand on why she chose journalism, she's obviously got a highly discerning eye.
i'll definitely DM you as i get further into it! i can't promise anything insightful or profound but i have enjoyed enthusing about this with you. plus it's just cool to see people talk about something they have a clear passion for/knowledge of.
spoiler
i really adored that scene in and of itself but i also really liked that she notably isn't wearing the eye shadow during the party. it didn't make her feel good so she didn't wear it, and she's no less feminine for it. and even the bit with the corset! it resonated immediately with me as a depiction of the frankly painful shit women sometimes have to do to appear feminine. i just, ugh. cannot lavish enough praise on that entire sequence. i'm not shocked that it's a standout exception in tomino's works but it does make it more remarkable that it happened like this. i'm honestly so curious as to how it came about (even though i agree with your "death of the author" standpoint here for obvious reasons).
we can dream of a world where this got a faithful, cowboy bebop-level dub.
i honestly think you're spot on that it would have cracked hella eggs, ESPECIALLY given the utter lack of comedic tone that almost all genderbending anime included as a standard (though ofc stuff like ranma still cracked more eggs than an omelet factory). i'm also curious as to whether or not it made a splash on early japanese fora/message boards or something, but trying to find out is well beyond my abilities sadly.
and yeah guin at first came off in a totally different way than he does post-realization. when he just abruptly decided to start calling her laura i thought his explanation was genuinely kind of amusing ("i just think it's more suitable!") but in retrospect his need to force aspects of her identity to suit him feel vile. i'm looking forward to episode 8 now, i have been p busy and i've got a few hectic days coming up but i can't wait for when i have some time to sit down with it again. :3 also yes keith is a precious lil bread boy, it's kind of adorable that he's just like "hmmm war is brewing? i think i'm gonna bake bread. people gotta eat!" i also liked that fran was the only person to recognize laura. even harry who was like four feet away from her just an episode or two ago was totally oblivious. that one little moment really helped expand on why she chose journalism, she's obviously got a highly discerning eye.
i'll definitely DM you as i get further into it! i can't promise anything insightful or profound but i have enjoyed enthusing about this with you. plus it's just cool to see people talk about something they have a clear passion for/knowledge of.