BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
Just finished the first 6 episodes of BNA: Brand New Animal, and heck, that felt pretty gosh darn gay to me folks!
- The 10th Anniversary festival felt a lot like pride, with folks 'coming out' in their beast forms, in the kind of 'loud and proud' sorta way.
- Michiru consistently calls becoming a beastkin a 'disease', and wants to go back 'to normal' (Despite being consistently and explicitly shown as being more comfortable as a Tanuki) making me think of all the folk who see queerness as a disease, and something to 'overcome'.
- Michiru and Nazuna are total lesbians. This is fact and I will not debate it with anybody GOOD DAY
BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@minimink I love how Michiru's entire situation is pretty much 'oops, don't have passing privilege anymore' and having to find a way to be comfortable with her body and selfhood because 'normal' isn't gonna happen again
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@hystericempress I kinda hope the "got infected by evil biocorp" angle turns out to be a red herring.
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@minimink my guess on that is either:
A) her surgery and blood transfusion after the accident was a complete logistical fuckup and not an 'intended' result in the slightest
or
B) this actually IS something intrinsic to Michiru and a transfusion just ended-up awakening something that was already there
either way, both are decent reasons for Sylvesta scrambling to get a lid on it now that she's out-of-pocket.
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@minimink my read on this situation is more that Sylvesta is planning to try and exploit this situation for a profit by offering a bogus 'cure' that is really just an attempt to reverse-engineer her abilities, and the eventuality that it isn't actually 'fixable' because there's nothing actually WRONG.
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@hystericempress YES! And big bossman Sylvesta not knowing about Michiru beforehand does lend credence to this.
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@minimink I also lean towards the 'intrinsic' reading because it's actually in her NAME; Michiru is written as みちる, which is 'to grow or mature' or simply 'to become' using the individual characters み and ち, 'body' and 'blood'; meanwhile Kagemori is written as 影森, 'wood shadow,' which is very on the nose for someone who 'accidentally' became a tanuki. my honest guess is she was ALWAYS like this.
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@hystericempress Hm, now this is getting me wondering about 'intrinsic' vs 'artificial' and the merits when it comes to queer reading. On one hand, the intrinsic angle backs up the story as allegory for homosexuality.
I wonder if there's something to be said about the 'artificial' angle being linked to a transgender reading, and the validity of self-identification no matter how you came to be.
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@minimink sidebar to sidebar: I really like that the Horners are a chicken and koala that very specifically look like the mascots of KFC and Koala-brand snacks, because they're emotional comfort food.
re: BNA light spoilers; Queer Theory reading
@minimink Like, I think a point the series is driving at is that identity is BOTH what you do and what you are; note that Michiru is essentially helpless without Shirou's aid until she starts embracing her own abilities, but that she's welcomed by the Horners and others regardless. she's in this boat with them no matter what, but she can do and BE more if she chooses to take joy in what she is.