Seven Deadly Sins

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Seven Deadly Sins is another Netflix anime that when it came out mostly everyone was watching it. I immediately bought in and binged the entire season within one week leaving me anime-less for a while as it takes Netflix years to put out another season of an anime. My feelings on Seven Deadly Sins vary from one of my favorite watches to what in the world happened as the seasons went on. The anime follows the adventure of a princess Elizabeth who is searching for the banished and hated group of knights; the seven deadly sins. She stumbles across their leader, Meliodas, unknowingly asking him in his tavern for help on her journey. I love how you immediately understand where the anime is going just by the first episode. You can see how Elizabeth and Meliodas will go on this adventure to find his long-lost teammates and probably will have a hard time doing it.

Meliodas is the smallest and also the leader of the seven deadly sins but as his outward appearance deceives most people we soon learn that he is the seven deadly sin, wrath. The most dangerous, and lethal, sin of them all, and he proves it in each episode you watch. I love how each one of the sin’s fighting styles is different, with Meliodas he barely fights with a weapon, and when he does it’s with a broken sword. Many animes fall short to me when it comes to actual world-building but Seven Deadly Sins do a great job of showing you how their mythical world works

(this link will take you to one of my favorite fight scenes between Meliodas and the ten commandments)

As a viewer, you are always waiting and guessing which character could be a seven deadly sin as you meet them and they get revealed. We meet Diane the envy sin (who is a giant), Ban the greed sin, King the sloth sin (who is a fairy King), Esconar the pride sin, and Gother the lust sin. This is not their whole team but the ones they find throughout the season. I love how each major seven deadly sins all have its past and issues with each other that the viewer doesn’t know. One of my huge favorite things about this anime is the fighting animation style. It does an amazing job at showing their abilities while keeping it interesting to watch after seeing fight after fight.

Overall if you are into a more fast-paced and fight-centered anime this one is for you. Seven Deadly Sins is an anime that starts amazingly, the adventure draws you in and the plot makes you stay. As the seasons go on, the show loses some of that consistency and starts to fall apart. The animation loses its footing and Netflix as a company doesn’t always put out the best mass content. It comes in at 7/10 for me as it was one of my favorites and the shaky ending doesn’t make it any less of a great watch to an extent.

Other Ratings

Netflix: 71% match

Kakegurui: Proceed With Caution

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Coming in at what has to be one of the weirdest anime I have ever seen and the weirdest anime that has ever been made. Some animes will have you questioning what you are watching and this is one of them. I watched this show years ago when it first came out and revisiting now I have to question my decision-making skills. Kakegurui is a Netflix anime that follows a school full of rich kids who on the outside seem like normal private schoolers but at a closer look, every student at the school is a gambler. This isn’t just an attribute that every student has but it is the school itself, to not be treated like an animal and rise in popularity you have to be good at betting away your life.

The anime does well with introducing us to the system through straight-up exposure. We follow the new girl at school, Yumeko Jabam who at first seems quiet and revered not someone who would survive in the harsh environments that come along with gambling your life away. She gets to know the only boy at school, Ryota Suzui who is what the high rollers call a ‘pet’. He gambles and lost the game he was in becoming a servant to whoever he played against, and as he is showing Yumeko the ropes she gets challenged to a modified game of rock paper scissors. Now at this point when you are watching it as a viewer you are kind of getting the hint that something might be off with Yumeko. It does a great job of dropping hints as to Yumekos’s true character, as the game progresses so does the excitement on her face. She is a certified gambler addicted to the thrill that comes with the high stake games in the school.

The games that the characters play through the show can only be described as horrifying. The second game that Yumeko plays is a twisted game of concentration the card game. With each successful match against the other has to rip one of their nail beds off and keep playing. The animation lends itself to the plot of anime being bright, and quick, slowing down in moments they want the viewer to catch what is happening in the scene. At some points it felt like I couldn’t take my eyes off what I was watching, each student is deeply involved with the hierarchy that is the school. No matter the lengths that a game might go to they will always play it. The thrill plus the fear of being a pet keeps the students from even thinking about not taking part, and it’s very apparent in one of my favorite characters; Midari Ikishima.

Midari is one of the conical members that instilled the gambling rule in the first place. She is previously damaged from losing one of her eyes in a bet and is honestly out of her mind crazy. She convinces Yumeko to play a guessing game of Russian roulette and the way Midari has no care for her safety in the slightest makes the entire scene. I love how deranged she and this anime is. It is a tentative watch as it might not be your vibe but just as an anime itself, it comes in at a 7/10.

Other Ratings

Netflix: 73% Match

Fairy Tail: A Childhood Favorite

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Fairy Tail is one of those animes that I have seen a hundred times over despite the length of it. It was one of my first animes and after I watched it I deep-dived into anime itself finding myself in love with the genre more than I thought I would. Fairy Tail is a funny, heartwarming, tear-jerking show that you can watch with new curiosity no matter how old you get. The plot forms itself into a huge overarching enemy as the anime continues, but in the beginning, it starts out simple with just one character; Lucy Heartfilia.

Lucy is the heiress of the Heartfilia fortune whose mom has passed and whose dad has tried to control her for as long as he could.  She has wanted to be a part of a magical guild (the place where the great magic users come together and take jobs) for as long as she could remember, she just needed to find a way in. The show gets its name from the magic guild Lucy ends up joining, Fairy Tail houses many magic users each having a unique ability and interesting characteristics that make it easy to distinguish between them as you learn who the characters are. Lucy as one of the protagonists is amazing, she starts so unsure of herself and her ability to be a celestial wizard but eventually, after many death experiences, she throws herself into becoming a better wizard, and as the viewer, it’s so satisfying to get to see her grow.

Fairy Tail is a multi-faced show as Lucy is not the only protagonist eventually the stories and plot start to shift between the characters. Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Erza Scarlet all are different type of magic users that welcome Lucy to Fairy Tail and eventually make her a part of their group, taking her on grand and deadly adventures that forges a strong bond between the four of them. What I love most about this anime is how it shows relationships, friendships, and enemies grow as the different arcs play out. It doesn’t leave behind a plot that might not fit with the new arc that is happening but instead builds off those relationships to further the plot. It does all this while keeping you invested in the plot and wanting to watch episode after episode.

If you haven’t seen Fairy Tail before or are not a big anime watcher then how many episodes, seasons, and arcs this anime has might be really overwhelming. Fairy Tail has over 300 episodes each being fairly average in length but the amount of arcs it covers I cant even start to talk about because they are so comprehensive. Though this might be a downside for some people most love the amount of content that comes along with it. Fairy Tail covers all bases with romance, angst, and lots of actions scenes that are animated with close attention to detail. Though I’ve seen it so many times I still could learn new information about the lore and plot any day!

Other ratings

Crunchyroll:

Average Rating- 4.7 (6.5k views)

64 reviews

School Babysitters: The Most Heartwarming Anime

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School Babysitters is one of the most heartwarming anime I have ever seen. Recently my anime genre has been shojo anime which is anime that usually tends to be romantic and interpersonal focused. Over winter break a more everyday life of anime was needed and I found a couple that I binged, School Babysitters being one of them. It follows the vastly changing life of two brothers; Ryuuichi (the older brother) and Kotarou (the younger brother) Kashima who recently lost both of their parents in a horrific plane crash and are left with only each other to hold onto. This tugged at my heartstrings because I was watching it very sleep deprived and loved how though the anime starts sad it leads into the most heartwarming story.

The two brothers find themselves taken in by what happens to be the principal of the high school that Ryu (Ryuuichi) goes to. Yuko Morinomiya also lost her kids in the same plane crash and though she is harsh and unforgiving she still wants to care for Ryu and Kotarou. The first episode of this anime shows how important the two brothers’ relationship is going to be throughout the show, Kotarou ends up sick and Ryu panics and realizes how alone they truly are.  That doesn’t stay the case for long though as the principal assigns Ryu to work at the babysitters club in their high school. He would watch over his brothers and kids of various teachers at the school alongside another aide that works for the school. Ryu is thrown into having to learn how to take care of small children and even though it comes naturally to him, as a viewer having to learn all the kids’ names were tough.

One thing great this anime does is introduce us to a lot of characters in a way that allows us to get to know at least a little bit about each one of them. The other children are introduced together, all having very different personalities that cause them to stand out and fill in a comedic and loving space in the anime. Starting from the far right you have, of course, Kotarou holding a bunny, he is reserved and shy and he stays by his brother’s side as much as he can. The little girl with the green pigtails is Kumatskua Kirin. She is fierce and doesn’t let all the boys bother her. The blue-haired boy is Taka Kamitani an angry, defiant kid who thought pick on the other kid sometimes is still a friend. Lastly, the twins, Kazuma, and Takuma Mamizuka are opposites, Kazuma being outspoken and Takuma being sensitive always having tears in his eyes. Each other the kid’s parents and life situations are revealed throughout the anime. I love in particular the twin’s story because their dad is a famous actor and their mom is a math teacher. They never see their dad and don’t recognize or even call him dad when they see him one day at the daycare.

Overall this anime has to be one of my favorite shojos. It has all the factors you could want in a great romance or interpersonal story. In this case, it tells the story of two brothers who though it doesn’t focus a lot on it after the first episode are learning how to depend of people other than each other and make friends that could last forever. Each episode has two little stories in them letting you see more of the characters, and grow to love them faster than you would expect.

Other ratings:

(Crunchyroll) Average Rating: 4.9 (6.2k views)

2oo reviews

RCL #4: Staying True to Your Word: Making The Battle of Ownership of Native American Land Equal

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Taia Coleman

Staying True to Your Word:

Making The Battle of Ownership of Native American Land Equal

Introduction

Imagine having to travel over 30 miles for fresh water and the only time you get electricity is when you hook your tv cables up to your car. Welcome to Pine Ridge, a Native American Reservation located in southwestern South Dakota, Pine Ridge is one of the poorest counties in the US. Now home to almost 40,000 people, the 2.8 million acres of land hold women, men, and children that are living in dangerous conditions that cut their life expectancy almost in half.[1] Most live without running water, a job, and food, and sadly most without a home. To the people living on the reservation, this is just day-to-day life, for generations they have lost more parts of their culture to issues that aren’t easily solved. The reservation’s history starts in 1868 with the second Treaty of Fort Laramie being signed it marked the boundaries of the sovereign Lakota Sioux Land. It included most of South Dakota where the now Pine Ridge reservation lies but treaties began to be disregarded with train tracks being built right across the reservation land. The government even in the beginning had already started to go back on its word to Native Americans and impede upon their land like it was their own.[2] The Lakota War saw bloody massacres of Native American people on their land and used the money from pushing them onto reservations and selling their land to build Mt Rushmore. Now the land stands as the home to people who are losing more and more of their land every day to the government, not being forced off the land but pushed by factors they don’t have the resources to fight against.

The people of Pine Ridge aren’t being pushed off the land literally but through the slow buying of what is meant to be protected land by non-natives that start to live on the reservations and disturb the communities. Treaties, acts, and promises are all broken throughout Native American history with the US government. Land that is meant to be sacred has malls and oil rigs sitting on top of it. The systems and government organizations like the Bureau of Land Management, that are supposed to be supporting the Native American Reservations contribute to the gaining loss of Native American land to non-natives. Native Americans are losing what is supposed to be protected land through existing policies that make fighting for their land inaccessible and almost impossible to do. The loss of Native American land in Pine Ridge and many other reservations is forcing Native Americans into poverty and homelessness giving away to the rising death count of Native Americans in America. To prevent the unneeded and undeserved death that is happening in Pine Ridge, huge changes in existing policies of land ownership to a shift of supporting Native Americans in day-to-day life need to happen.

Historical Background: Native American Land

(a timeline of the loss of Native American land in the US)

The history of the loss of Native American land in America goes back to the early days of colonization in the 14 to 17th centuries with Christopher Columbus discovering America to the Seven Years’ War that pitted many Native American tribes against each other and the Spanish as they helped France in the war itself.[3] Native Americans have always been forced to be involved in many wars, arguments, and battles that weren’t their own just for the promise of keeping and protecting their sacred land. One of the first treaties to be signed to protect Native land was in 1785 the Treaty of Hopewell which protected Cherokee land. What followed in the years after was a series of battles against Native Americans breaking the many treaties and promises established during wartime. Andrew Jackson and US Forces attacked Creek Native Americans who refused American expansion onto their territory which ended in the loss of 20 million acres worth of Native American land to the US.

Not just land was lost in the many battles over native American land but so were lives. After Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act and began forcefully removing Native Americans from their land many were dying in the process. From disease on the road to the horrible conditions of their removal, more than 4,000 Native Americans from the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Muscogee tribes died on the Trail of Tears.[4] Land acquisition in the US has always been harmful, dangerous, and sometimes lethal to the people of the land, and yet it continued with even more policies being put in place that only harm Native Americans. Policies like Indian Appropriations Act prevented Native Americans from leaving the reservations they were forced to have, leaving many having to find other ways to survive. It also declared that indigenous people weren’t members of a ‘sovereign’ nation and that the US government couldn’t establish treaties with them anymore.[5] It was the front door to many policies that allowed the federal government more power and control over Native land.

 

The contradictions don’t end there as the discovery of gold in the Black Hills non-native miners, and settlers began living on Native land and disturbing the environment. Even after the Treaty of Fort Laramie, People constantly invaded protected land violating every treaty, and treating the land like it was their own. Native American Land has been disregarded, looted, taken, disgraced, and used for gain throughout history and to this very day. Knowing the history of how reservation land got to the condition it is in now is important. Issues like land ownership and the poverty problem directly correlate with how their land is being treated and given away despite there being policies in place to stop that from happening.

Existing Policies on Native American Reservations

Native American land is either one of two types of land; trust land is land that is owned by the federal government, but beneficial interest remains with a Native American tribe or individual and then there is fee land. Most of the Native American reservations are trust lands, with trust lands that are in the hands of an individual called allotments.[6]

One of the biggest policies that jump-started the loss of indigenous land to the government was the General Allotment Act of 1887 or the Daws Act. With this act, the federal government allotted a specific number of acres to each tribal member. The allotments were held in trust for about 25 years till the trust status is gone and allotment fees to the title of the land. Thousands of acres of land were lost as the trust status was lifted and the land became subject to state taxation. Native American people are already living in very small, poverty-ridden, and harsh environments where keeping a steady job isn’t an option. Most were never going to be able to pay the allotment fee and keep the land that was supposed to be promised to them. If the land wasn’t allotted, then it was considered ‘surplus’ land and was easily lost to non-native homesteaders who bought up the land, and the allotment land that was left in the hands of Native Americans was scattered throughout the country. As they died their land was split up between their descendants and over time this fractionation limited economic development on reservations with only a few cents coming back from the land. Native Americans barely own the land that is left now most of it still being sold to nonnatives all the time. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA) pushed tribes to shift to a more self-government tribe but didn’t account for the policies that would overlap or even contradict this present day.

Present-day Pine Ridge sees the mixing of nonnatives that have bought the land and are now hunting on native land and natives that are struggling to live from day-to-day conflict with each other. Right now, the Bureau of Land Management is selling what is supposed to be protected Native land without letting the natives know and get to chance to even fight for their land. Auctions are held in unreachable places from the reservation, and no one informs the natives about when the auctions happen. The land is even sold for low prices to nonnatives looking for land to hunt on, but the prices change if a Native American person were to beat all the odds and be at the auction. The internet is far away with there being no power or telephone cables anywhere near reservations. The acquisition of Native land in the past is directly correlated to the economic and living status of Native American people now which prevents them from being able to fight for their land even with policies in place that are meant to support them.

The Impact on Native Americans in Pine Ridge

Present Day Harms

The battle of landownership and the subsequent loss of Native land has left reservations economically ruined. The Natives had been pushed and pulled off and, on their land, were given no support in trying to live in climates that didn’t benefit them. They couldn’t make enough money to buy their land back and to this day don’t make enough money to live.

Donald Morrison is a 60-year-old Native American resident on the Pine Ridges reservation. He lives in a small, tiny home at the edge of the reservation and has no working power or running water. Though he only lives a few miles away from electricity no authority has ever tried to provide him with access to the internet or running water and he lives off food stamps that only last him the first two weeks of a month. Donald can’t work because of an injury and owes money he will never be able to pay back in hospital bills. He doesn’t even hold out hope for actual help,

“I eventually gave up,” he recalls. “They just say they can’t help me. It’s a waste of time.”[7]

This is the trend with many Native Americans and especially on the Pine Ridge reservation. “The unemployment rate of Pine Ridge hovers around eighty percent, with a majority of the population living under federal poverty standards.”[8] Many Native Americans can’t attend school because all their efforts need to be put into finding or working their job. Even when they do have a job, they aren’t making enough money off the land to make a living fighting the other impacts of existing policies. Hospital bills, taxes, and just finding food to live off are prohibiting Native Americans from moving to just barely surviving to live. The other external harms like alcoholism, the suicide rate, police brutality, and the increasing crime rate only serve to fully stop Native Americans from not only trying to fight/buy their land back but also from coming together as a community.

The reservation needs any support it can get but even with policies like ones that provide only specific people with food stamps or nonprofits that hand out noodles and spam is not enough to make life worth living for a lot of Native Americans on the reservation. In fact, the Pine Ridge reservation had to declare a state of emergency when a spree of suicides happened with 14-15-year-olds killing themselves one after the other.[9] This is just one harmful effect like the diabetes crisis can give us a direct look at how existing policies are not just ineffective but harming the population. The diabetes rate is 8 times the national average and won’t be going down as food programs that provide food stamps to the people of reservations last so long until they have no choice but to rely on food donations not by the government but by non-profit organizations that provide food only once a month. The food options themselves are great being spam, or some type of canned meat, and paired with the rampant alcohol use it is only one more way that the Pine Ridge reservation is losing this battle against the federal government.

Policy Focus: External and Internal Support

There are existing policies that have recently been put into place in response to the Covid-19 crisis, that supposedly will put some money into reservations’ health insurance to keep them afloat during the pandemic. The American rescue plans invest $1.75 billion to help alleviate the stress and death that covid caused. Though it isn’t specifically for Native Americans and hasn’t seemed to help the problems that reservations are facing. It more covers the problem than directly addresses the harms and issues on Pine Ridge and other Native American reservations. To truly support reservations, policies that directly address issues like job opportunities, education system, food availability, and the loss of land will only be the start to giving back to Native Americans what historically the federal government has taken away from them.

The issue of Native American land being bought and slowly lost to nonnatives who are using it to hunt and build on can be directly addressed by a policy that attacks existing policies that are in place. The Bureau of Land Management has a policy called the Indian Preference Policy that uses Native American preference in the hiring process but only in Indian affairs, not overall job opportunities. This policy could be very effective if shifted a bit. Move the focus from incorporating Native American representation in Indian affairs to incorporating them in just American affairs. Supporting Native Americans as they search and get a job would allow the pressure of having to survive besides that to be diminished slowly. A steady income isn’t the overall solution but can help change the policy to focus on the indirect issues causing the loss of Native land is a start. The Indian Preference Policy can become a support system that could provide steady food, water, and maybe even a monthly stipend for Native Americans that are looking for or just beginning a job.

[1] “Our Story – the Reservation – Red Cloud Indian School.” n.d. Www.redcloudschool.org. https://www.redcloudschool.org/reservation.

[2] “Single Post | Truesiouxhope.” 2015. Truesiouxhope. True Sioux Hope Foundation. January 27, 2015. https://www.truesiouxhope.org/single-post/2015/01/27/HISTORY-OF-THE-PINE-RIDGE-OGLALA-LAKOTA-SIOUX.

 

[3] History.com Editors. 2019. “Native American History Timeline.” History. A&E Television Networks. January 15, 2019. https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-timeline.

[4] “The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears | National Geographic Society.” n.d. Education.nationalgeographic.org. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/indian-removal-act-and-trail-tears/.

[5] yongli. 2020. “Indian Appropriations Act (1871).” Coloradoencyclopedia.org. March 13, 2020. https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-appropriations-act-1871.

[6] “Native American Lands | Ownership and Governance.” n.d. Revenuedata.doi.gov. https://revenuedata.doi.gov/how-revenue-works/native-american-ownership-governance/.

[7] Strickland, Patrick. 2016. “Life on the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation.” Www.aljazeera.com. November 2, 2016. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/11/2/life-on-the-pine-ridge-native-american-reservation.

[8] Williams, Matthew. 2016. “What Life on a Native American Reservation Really Looks Like.” Huck Magazine. September 12, 2016. https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/photography-2/native-american-reservation-pine-ridge-photography/.

[9] (Williams 2016)

(This my rough draft, I still need too add the conclusion though.)

RCL #3 Deliberation Evaluation

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My group’s topic for the deliberation was, “Accessibility of Student Health Care at Penn State.” We wanted to deliberate on a topic that was close to us and what we go through in our everyday lives while also being a type ll problem. The problem that we wanted to address was the fact that “Students are at risk for having harmful diseases and injuries go untreated unnecessarily because Penn State student health care is inaccessible, unaffordable, and alternatives are not readily available.” We approached this problem with three solutions, the first being the changing/expansion of UHS hours, the second, being alternative transportation, and the third promoting online health services. I think during the start of the presentation it was a bit harder to get everyone to start to talk and bounce off one another. Being the first group to go we had to find a way to get people to participate. As we went through approaches 1 and 2 though people started to have more things to deliberate on. Though approach 2 wasn’t favored it was what made everyone start to talk more and question the solution compared to approach 1. Even in the responses to our after-deliberation survey people still had strong opinions on the topic with 85.7% of the class agreeing that it was not effective as a solution. Other people might have even slightly liked approach 2 with someone saying, “I find the approach fairly effective but in terms of resources available I don’t know if this is feasible” I think my group did well with pairing our videos for each solution with our discussion being able to put up certain slides to get the conversation going. When we got to approach three everyone was hoping in and talking about different aspects of the presentation as we wrapped it up. Approach three was everyone’s overall favorite with 92% of the class agreeing it was the most effective solution. Though we did lack criteria for the class to judge I still think we did a good job as a group with our deliberation. 

 

The Environmental Impact: Tourisim

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1.4 billion tourists arrive at their destination every year.

45 tourists arrive every second.

(https://www.dw.com/en/thailand-saving-a-beach-paradise-from-mass-tourism/a-57230396)

When we think of tourism it is the lavish, promoted, and loved idea of being able to take a vacation in this different place from what we are use to in our every day lives. But what is not our everyday lives, is in someone else’s and their homes are being highly impacted by what tourism is and how tourism is operating in the world at the moment. One of the first environmental impacts on minorities I want to take a look at is the affect of tourism on islands and how the way different factors like economics play a role in what is currently happening with it and what is being done to aide this growing issue. I also want to take a look at the past and how we can observe the beginning affects of tourism and what to might have looked like before how we see it now to better understand what to do about the problem.

(https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/island-vacations/best-secret-islands-on-earth)

Tourism is an issue that could quickly be forgotten if you are the ‘specialized’ person that does not need to take a closer look at how bigger issues are impacting the few. When examining it further there is a huge problem that is entangled in many different webs, one of those being; the economics. The Island Innovation network can give us insight, “In fact, tourism accounts for more than one-quarter of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a number of SIDS, and makes up 9% of the overall exports (US$61 billion).” ( Island Innovation, 2022) Tourism is a huge product for any business so it wont be easily dismantled or changed. The money that tourism brings in to the island is funding some of the islands infrastructure and keeping the people that are indigenous to the island afloat. It provides jobs within the hotels and small businesses that are built. From staff on the cruises that come through to staff cleaning up after the tourists that leave tourism brings money in and out that right now nobody can afford to let go off.

(https://www.mackinacisland.org/lodging/)

This Economic situation within the tourism builds more divide between the tourists themselves and the indigenous people of the islands. The difference in economic situations between the people coming in and the people living there along with the negative impact that becomes crystal clear as time progresses produces rising levels of resentment and anger on the islands. We can see this negative impacts in many ways with the most obvious one being the desecration of the lands with the building of hotels and new business on top of sacred lands. People are coming in and disrespecting these places where the indigenous people of Hawaii or Bali have used for centuries to express there culture in their land. Leaving in their wake a new way for more tourists to come in and change more things without giving them the choice to say no. With tourists climbing sacred mountains or disregarding the rules of a religious area it is hard to see a way for the conflict between tourists and the people of the islands ending without first trying to solve the issues tourism has been creating since its beginning.

(https://apnews.com/article/travel-health-greece-covid-6c67c691251e0bd45d942b078e2f8f5c)

Tourism first started out in a different form in ancient Greece and Rome with ideas of a cultural ride to certain religious areas to embrace your culture often being done. The term tourist was coined in the early 18th century by English writer and novelist Graham Greene who probably didn’t know what would become of the word as he wrote he book on tourism at the time. By the early 19th century Europeans were taking more and more journeys around the world for health and relaxation. As more people started to travel the need for expansion of the industry was required and with businesses hoping onto this idea of a different income of money cruises/hotels there was it was only a matter of time. Even though it produces a lot of money tourism has grown since then especially with the production of global greenhouse emissions as a direct consequence of the constant travel and equipment being used by the tourist companies and tourists themselves. With tourism contributing, “to more than 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with transportation accounting for 90 percent of this.” (The World Counts, n.d.). Tourism is impacting not just the environment on and around the islands, but also the environment for the whole world and doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

(https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2017-12-06/can-voluntourism-offset-the-environmental-impacts-of-hawai-is-growing-visitor-industry)

So what is being done to aide this growing issue? Ecotourism or sustainable tourism has been newly looked into to be one of the best ways to change the way people travel and maybe even change the reason why people travel in the first place. The UN World Tourism Organization describes ecotourism as, “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.” (Island Innovation, 2022) ” Limiting the amount of transportation that is used for tourism can help reduce the gas emissions. Also how often transportation is used will be impactful. The coastline of Penghu archipelago primary source of income is tourism but it is also a center for ecotourism and has greatly limited the amount of times transportation is used to travel there. In ecotourism what was lacking and is still lacking in tourism today is this idea of individual responsibility. We as people have to be very conscious of the choices we are making while traveling and consider if there is a more sustainable way to be doing what we are doing. Whether its something small like recycling everything on your trip or finding alternate ways to travel that limits green house gases, anything will help. Tourism is an issue that impacts minorities at its heart and though people are trying to combat this issue, more awareness needs to be brought to it to really start change.

Works Cited

Tourism | Definition, History, Types, Importance, & Industry. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/tourism

Hsiao, C. Y., Kuo, C. M., & Tuan, C. L. (2021, September 7). Island Ecological Tourism: Constructing Indicators of the Tourist Service System in the Penghu National Scenic Area. Frontiers. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.708344

The History of Indigenous Peoples and Tourism. (2021, June 24). The History of Indigenous Peoples and Tourism | Cultural Survival. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/history-indigenous-peoples-and-tourism

The World Counts. (n.d.). The World Counts. https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/transport-and-tourism/negative-environmental-impacts-of-tourism

https://islandinnovation.co/articles/island-tourism-balancing-protection-and-profitability-to-ensure-a-sustainable-future/

 

 

 

The Promise Neverland (A Disturbing Watch)

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(This link will take you to the trailer for The Promise Neverland)

You haven’t seen a horror/thriller anime until you have seen The Promise Neverland. It is a mind warp of plot that leads you one place at the start and yet you end up on a whole different world in the middle. The first episode opens up with the three main characters; Emma, Ray, and Norman all looking into what seems to be a gate leading to what they call, “the outside”.  They all are wearing the same uniform, a white, crisp shirt and pants that almost feels sterile in a way. The feel of the episode has you cautious, even though outwardly there’s nothing to be suspicious of. You discover they’re all orphans and live together on what seems to be just a large land solely for the kids that are living there.

(This is Isabella, one of the ‘mothers’)

Emma, Ray, and Norman all feel differently about being at the orphanage, Emma being the most naïve. She took comfort in their ‘mother’ who watched over all of the children and believed in the fact that once she was smart enough she would be adopted. As you are watching the anime, noticing the small things like the fact they all have numbers, the ‘mothers’ seem almost robotic, and that they have to take a test to be adopted you know that something isn’t right. I love the way the animation conveys that sense of dread, with an almost shaky animation style in most scenes that feel tense but shouldn’t be. Emma by the end of the first episode finds her way back to that gate she was always warned about, wanting to see her friend off as she had gotten adopted unexpectedly. Norman follows her and through their eyes hiding underneath a truck we see that little girl get slaughtered and eaten by what seems to be a monster.

The shock that I felt while watching this anime for the first time was immense. I had not had a lot of knowledge on it beforehand, but going into it knowing it was supposed to be horror but that horror not being upfront allowed me to fully get invested in this show. I needed to know more now about this show I thought I was beginning to understand, had now flipped on the axis at the end of the first episode. The world building as the season goes along is amazing, it introduces you to this horrifying world the characters are living in, in tiny pieces. You know some information about how the orphans aren’t being adopted but actually sold to different demons for food but not about why their world is the way it is till later on. The design of the characters is what catches my eye when examining the animation. Each character has a distinct personality with Ray being more mysterious having black hair that covers most of his face or Emma being more optimistic having bright orange hair. Even the way the demons/the mothers are drawn is terrifying, they resemble what angels originally are depicted to look like and play into what the plot is trying to convey.

(Ray on the left, Emma in the middle, Norman on the right)

I greatly enjoyed this anime, with the story telling being shocking and so deep that they could make many seasons based of the manga. The animation is better than some amines I’ve seen recently and I would highly recommend it. If you love horror/thriller amines that are really intense this is the anime for you coming in at a 9/10!

Other Ratings:

(Crunchyroll) Average Rating: 4.5 (15.6k)

806 reviews

Spy x Family! A Must Watch

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(This link will take you to the trailer for Spy x Family!)

For my first anime to look at I wanted to start off with one that I just recently caught up all the way with and take a look at it as its ongoing and doesn’t seem like it will be stopping anytime soon! Spy x Family was one of the few anime binges over the winter break and earned its place in one of favorite animes of 2022. Spy x Family came out in April 2022 and was a hot topic as the manga is super loved by fans wanting to see if the show would live up to expectations.

It follows the top secret and very important spy named: Twilight or as he goes by in his new mission, Liod Forger. He is a top agent who is sent on a mission to try and stop a war between two feuding countries, the only thing- he has to disguise himself as a husband and father to win over his target in as much time as possible. I love the way the first episode plays out, usually in most animes there is a lot of background thrown out once and it can leave you feeling like you’re missing out on something. Spy x Family does give some background information but it is played out in a way where you learn about Loid and his frame of mind very quickly. To succeed in his mission he goes through great lengths finding a daughter first, Anya, who just happens to be a telepath, able to read minds.

(This link will take you to a fighting scene in episode five)

The dynamic between Loid and his newly acquired daughter is the most heartwarming relationship. Loid think its just apart of the mission but quickly finds himself caring about her a great deal and her him. I find myself watching the show wanting to focus on the action but being drawn to the emotional relationships being established. The show even adds another element as Loid secures a wife in, Yor a worker for the counsel’s office and an assassin at night killing for money. The way that Anya knows who both her parents are and still finds her self loving them and trying to help them both has you wanting to squeeze her though the screen. Neither Yor or Loid knows what each other does and somehow never find out so far with both of them using their skills a lot around each other.

Though the show does have a lot of filler so far I found that I really enjoyed what the filler was. It was exciting, and showed different parts to their family dynamic. They all have a part to play but finds themselves just truly wanting to be a family sometimes. The action and animation of the show is absolutely amazing. I love the art style and I think it compliments the type of movement they do throughout the show. With the show ongoing hopefully it lives up to this and I would definitely recommend it! Its a great watch, coming in at a 9/10 with every aspects being amazing so far just leaving one for the unknown future.

Other Ratings (Crunchyroll):

Average Rating: 4.9 (178.8k views) and 2.041 reviews

 

This I Believe Outline

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Nothing more vivid can strike a memory than seeing the Disney channel logo be drawn out in front of your eyes right before your show starts. Your favorite character now lives outside of your beloved show and the excitement your body feels is almost overwhelming. For me that experience didn’t always ring true as I was a skinny, tall, shy black girl and only saw someone like me when I looked in the mirror. Representation was few and far between with movies like Princess and the frog being promoted as much as it could be. My voice shook on every syllable that left my mouth, anxious as anyone could ever be. I wasn’t outgoing and seeing myself being confident was as much as a dream as seeing a black girl on screen as often as other races. I believe that representation in the media is the starting point for self love. Being able to watch That’s so Raven and just see a black girl in the spotlight introduced me to the confidence I had not known I had before. So much so I wanted to share that with everyone in any shape or form I could, including public speaking.

My voice is as loud as I want it to be. It shrinks in front of too many people, when I have to stand up for myself, or when I am reading alone in my room. It grows in volume when someone hurts, when someone needs help, and when I am passionate. I don’t think my voice would have gotten above this, if not for the influence of certain shows and movies like, That’s So Raven that showed me I could be as loud as I wanted to be. Raven Braxter is an extroverted, exuberant, and passionate girl. Taking on every challenge that comes her way and not caring who sees her. I remember, eyes gleaming with awe, at such confidence wishing for myself that I could have a bit of hers to talk to the person who was bullying my best friend. I was only nine, a string bean whose voice squeaked when she talked and this eclipsing shadow of a fifth grader was the challenge I knew I needed to take on. I didn’t have supernatural powers like Raven, but I did know which lunch time the bully ate in so I knew where I needed to be. Sucking in a deep breath, squeezing my hands together, and remembering how this girl who looks like me was so sure of herself, I marched right up to the bully and stood on my tippy-toes before demanding they leave my best friend alone. I had never stuck up for myself let alone someone else before and even though I was shaking, my glasses foggy, the bully had gotten quiet and I had grown a foot taller. 

(Its definitely not finished but I got to the second subpoint)

For my Civic Blog I did decide to have it be about environmental issues that impact minorities. I think Its a really important topic that can be looked at microscopically being its a blog. I want to just shed light on things that are happening in the world when it comes to the environment that might not be acknowledged all of the time.  For my passion blog it was really hard for me to choose between the two of them but I am going to review different animes and decide if they’re something I would recommend to someone else or if they’re horrible and the reasons why.