Anime Discussion Thread - Page 6336

Most of the discussion seems to be centered around rape and sexual violence. The interesting part to me is that historically female characters in media and especially fantasy writing haven't been anything more than plot devices to propel the male protagonist or story forward. So when sexual violence occurs it's almost solely against women and is at the benefit of the audience of protagonist. It's all about making the audience and protagonist feel emotions. The actual victim of the violence barely matters in this situation.

In reality rape and sexual violence isn't only women but men and children too. The victims of the violence are the ones that are important. The aftermath of rape is important not just the act itself. That's partially why there is so much criticism of rape in media. It often only focuses on the act and discards the aftermath of the victim. It's why Martin gets criticized so much for rape in his books. Sure rape was a part of warfare and the times but he barely ever deals with the lifelong issues the victims face after the act. Instead focuses on the emotional element during the act that audience experiences.

To bring it all back to Goblin Slayer. What I've read is that people are upset that there is explicit rape in the story. The other side says the rape has an in world explanation and it's all about making the audience feel emotion, namely hatred for the goblins. This is the textbook example of poor use of sexual violence in a story. The victims do not matter. There's some lame justification for the rape itself (Goblins need to do that to procreate???). It's only against women, especially teenage girls. It's purely a tool used to set up the story instead of being important parts of characterization.

If we compare this to Berserk's take on it. We have both male, female and children being impacted. We have see how these events shape the characters. We witness the events in their full brutality and the aftermath that these characters that survive have to deal with. It's messy and disgusting. It evokes emotions but it also respects the story and characters enough to not use it as a plot device (Mostly).

3-Gatsu also deals with sexual violence or at least harassment/assault but it focuses mostly on how that trauma shapes our protagonist and not just the act itself. I mean this show is just amazing and I needed another chance to gush about it.