Haganai - Episode Two Analysis

In "There's No God in the Electric World," our Neighbors Club crew decide that the best technique to make friends in the modern world is with videogames. Videogames, after all, promote cooperation and can be an excellent teaching tool in their own right. However, things don't go as planned when the three begin an RPG only to turn on one another. After this chaotic session, Sena brings in a new console with a romance visual novel. The club spends the afternoon trying to complete it, but it turns out to be a lot more than they bargained for.

It would seem that videogames, then, are not so wonderful for bringing people together, are they? Well, the answer is clearly not so clear-cut. In the real world, what it has been doing is creating a semi-tangible layer of sorts to real world goods and services. The science here is in the expansion and preservation of these goods and services, which is where the cooperation truly comes from. So in a way gaming becomes work, and work has its own set of tropes and social customs.

First, a little primer: intangible objects which had their start in videogames have value. Individuals who are invested in these objects seek others who have the objects they are seeking, either to exchange or to capture said objects. In fact, one of the reasons these games do so well in major cities (like Tokyo and New York) is because of the large population necessary to increase the total output of virtual goods and services. We can hereby conclude that the success of these games is dependent on continual expansion of contributors to the whole; getting others to see the value in these goods increases their desire to exchange or capture them.

What we need, in order to put this to the test, is a city built upon gaming, gamers, and the proliferation of game objects.Would everyone in this city be working together? Or would the city fall into chaos the way things did for the Neighbors Club? Time would surely tell.

Haganai - Episode One Analysis

Most of you might recall a not-so-brief description of the Haganai series in a recent discussion about sexual themes in media. This anime is the story of a boy and a girl who, unable to make friends, start a club with the sole purpose of making friends. For a full synopsis, please see this article.

With that out of the way, let's get to it, shall we? In "We Can't Make Any Friends," protagonist Kodaka Hasegawa encounters Yozora Mikazuki in an abandoned classroom, the latter speaking with an imaginary friend. Kodaka and Yozora get in a quarrel, as we learn a few tidbits about Kodaka's situation. It turns out that, on his first day, he made a rather horrid first impression. Meanwhile, Yozora just struggles with social situations in general.

Sex, Teens and Sexy Teens - The Talk

(Warning: The following article discusses cases of pedophilia, ephebophilia and underage sex. Due to the controversial nature of this content, reader discretion is advised. Comments are encouraged, but please be tactful!)

Thomas C. Foster has been credited with saying, "the sex that occurs is invariably tied up with something else," and uses variations of this rule to describe many coveted novels from the past few centuries [Source here.]. What this means is that sex is more of a life-establishing phenomenon than it is a mere act. Sex can be about asserting dominance, extending trust, learning about oneself, becoming a great teacher (albeit a head-tiltingly kinky one), coping with loss, or all sorts of of other interpretations that could fill up a book (particularly one about sex). This leads to a multitude of complications.

Consider the "learning" and "teaching" aspects of sex. The sexual encounter of a virgin and a non-virgin is wholly different than the encounter of a virgin and a virgin. The non-virgin has more experience, a greater understanding of her body, its needs, and the needs of a potential lover. In a way, she coaches her lover through the steps so that he or she too can embrace those feelings and find value in them. In one aspect, sex is definitely a rite of passage. And that's the problem.

In the real world, the onset of puberty drives the cultivation of sexual urges. Sexual encounters, then, often occur during the adolescent years. Media emulates this fact, and it has the effect of molding media into a pseudo-teacher. At this time, it is important to note that the portrayals can be viewed as a form of child pornography, a liability which falls both on the producer of the medium and their audience. The consequences of such allegations need no explanation.

That said, are the allegations valid and justifiable?