Ode to the Nobodies
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- Today, we take an Ode to the Nobodies. The ones we never see, but who we'll always need.
Great stories are built on deep characters, but those characters must live in a world, and worlds are not one person. From Cowboy Bebop to PSYCHO-PASS to Vinland Saga, impactful works are built on the bodies of nobodies; background characters. Whether stepping stones for a powerful warrior, the cost of an authoritarian system, or just plain space to be filled, the most minor of roles are integral in getting across mood, tone, and theme. For example, in the recent Netflix anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the story is firmly about David Martinez, and his relationship with Lucy, Rebecca, and the rest of the crew. But David's story is one contrary to the ordinary life in Night City, so we have to have an example of such a life. The background characters give us this in simplicity; dull, meaningless, nothingness. We see in only a couple minutes why he wants to escape such a life. This is the world building of simple characters, and today, with even more great anime like Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy, and From the New World, we'll explore it in full. This is an Ode to the Nobodies.
#anime #videoessay #animeanalysis #professorviral 
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Bro, you are probably the most consistently creative aniessayist. Pumping out new quality stuff weekly!
And he's still going I always look forward to his uploads
To all us nobodies: We'll be somebodies one day.
What character is your profile pic?
@@shaynemaskall6984 it's marceline
To all us nobodies: Being somebody isn't about grand acts of changing the world or trascendental discoveries for the human race, no, it's about being there for the people that matter to us, of being somebody to them, yet not needing to define ourselves through their eyes and actions, but through ours.
Being somebody is about looking in the mirror and saying "that's a person, that''s somebody with as much worth as anybody else, except they're not just anybody, it's us
I think this is one of the things that make anime so great. Everything has to be thought about before it comes in to the world. Seeing a show that layers so much in the background is truely amazing. I love how most of the background characters in Cowoy Bebop looks so different. You can read a throw away character by what they share with the world.
These essay type videos show me how much high school and uni fail to teach essay writing. I could listen to this for hours but I would never read an essay written in an expository writing class
Would be interesting to see your take on slice of life genre animes like 'Welcome to NHK', 'Mushishi', 'Natsume Book of Friends', 'Kino's Journey', 'Barakamon'. Although 'Paranoia Agent' could be psychological fantasy horror, i perceive its central image to be quite humane about need of individual to hide their shame/guilt under the guise of stories, in a way being slice of life.
He really needs to do some Kino's journey content... I like mushishi, natusume, etc., I think Kino's the one that fits his content best. (Mushishi being second.)
EDIT: oh yes, and slice of life, which i.also.mwntioned in my other comment...
Sorry for the late comment dude!
I like this video. While watching it I'm reminded a few things: I think we forget that sometimes that the main character is setes just a background character in the world they live. Spike and the crew of the bebop seem so awesome, but they're just people living their lives honestly in their world. They are bounty hunters and although being a bounty hunter seems awesome to us, they're mundane in their own world. They're also not the best nor are they the worst. They're just your average Joe's and the stories we see are simply THEIR important stories...
And when you think about it, there's actually a lot of anime titles that explore this sort of mundane. Planetes, haibane renmei, and so on come to mind. Niea under 7 and others...
And then you also have genres of slice of life in odd settings like Girl's Last Tour... The stories of common place characters in a world that just isn't our normal... (There's a few others I just am blanking due to watching so much goddamned anime over the years).
Slice of life is also, just in general an entire genre to the "nobodies" with their own little stories and a sense of calm...
And then, it's also interesting metacontextually because anime is typically meant to tell a story in a very specific number of episodes and that's it. In western/American tv shows, we tend to have an episodic nature with the intent of milking it for as much as we can, and as such, we get more filler, and more one off episodes featuring a side character and a day in their life... (You get this in a few older anime shows with prolific episode counts, but it's far less often), and the funny thing is, these moments, these glimpses into non-main character lives, allows for more world building and more... Perspective.
One western example is the Batman the animated series, where in one episode, they showed batman from the perspective of three kids, and it really does a great job of showing how the nobody characters view the main in the main's world...
A world without nobodies is a world void of meaning I'd say. The whole reason protagonists are who and what they are is because they have "nobodies" to make them who they are.
I think the way you explained things was very well and to be honest I think in a lot of ways this applies to real life as well... we are all protagonists of our own no matter what and yet, at the same time we are nobodies or somebodies to everyone else. Some people tend to forget that those terms are not mutually exclusive when in fact they complete each other.
Been watching your videos for some time now, and I can tell you this.
To present your vulnerable side to the whole wide world, through your work ?
That takes courage to such a level that it cannot be believed from the get go, for many.
And by that note, be proud.
Be proud that you wanted to make your voice heard in the void, regardless of the sacrifice implied, day in and day out.
Or who may hear it.
And that's all that matters at the end of the day.
On an end note, what I can say is this.
Back straight, chin up, and keep doing what you consider is right, for you and those around you.
Hoping good fortune smiles upon you, thank you for your videos and as always....
Have a wonderful day. 👍
Life is meaningless unless you're one of the famous, main characters of this world. It's a harsh truth that only the exceptional few actually matter in this world. An average nobody can disappear and their disappearance wouldn't affect anything or anyone. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If a person exists and nobody is around to acknowledge their existence, do they really exist? This is what frightens me. The word "nobody" really causes me to go existential and realize how insignificant I am. That I'm just another speck of dust. That whatever I do has no impact, no meaning. That I'm just the floor which the main character would step on and shine.
Your overthinking it @Kalitayy life is short so just do whatever you want and don't worry about what others stay. Live for those few people who will be effected the day that you fall and make sure you create new friends every day. Not everyone needs to be famous or have a huge impact in their world to find their life meaningful.
i can't believe someone made a video about me :o
Love your stuff man.
Good stuff. Keep it real man.
Loved the video
thank u for another video
Loving the videos 🫰🏼
Here's to the nobodies! Well said though. A story is more than heroes because so few of us stand a chance of ever becoming a hero. Some because they believe they can't, others because they fail along the way, and others who just got stuck in the reality they live. In stories, if you aren't they hero you probably won't be cared about. A dream of a nobody with a better life, and the trouble to being able to see the end of what is. Maybe for us nobodies we'll find a place worth living in.
welcome to the big leagues kid
Would you do a video on Metamorphosis? I know it's kind of dark but I think you could pull a great analysis on it. It's definitely worth it
I guess the extra background characters are part of the worldbuilding, which is done with care in high quality shows, like the ones discussed.
Tho, I never thought much about those characters until now. In low quality or I may say mass produced anime like most isekai, you can spot the fact that the background characters are always some stereotypes you use in most of the series in that genre. And that fact cheapens the experience a lot for people that actually care about the story.
Somehow, you always find the most obscure angles and make an interesting video about a central theme.
Saw more than 30 anime series. They are all rather interesting.
Some people prescribe to there are nobodies and then those exceptional few who matter in the world, then other say we are all somebodies of our own world and thus everyone is a nobody.
This is just us humans doing the same thing that always leads us to our doom: dividing us into classes. And in this video we saw how well that usually works out. With our limited capacity to consider only a select few other humans as just that among a sea of unknowns, it seems to just be a part of our innate nature, a survival mechanism both against potential physical threats but also a mental one.
Do you have a playlist? I love your happy melancholy piano
Hollup lemme let one out so i can listen to this with pnc
Aight I'm bacc
Even in video games the presence of nobodies in the city makes the city more alive, heck you want an anime example? Look at ghibli movies, looots of nobodies doing stuff to help make it feel alive.
sweet
Ha , thats why i love ylva in vionland saga. I kno she isnt a background, but really most o the time live her life in peace.
Ha i think b favourite barkeeper in in black lagoon, such a resilient barowner.
Kobni from chainsawman is very intresting too.
And shin seki yori yess, its, it great, and depessing, and oddly not that despairing.
Lik i really like kubera, he webtoon that has a way better antranslation and , the worl if full of characters, their point, yt it come together in a universe, that is really tragic, but fun to explore. Alo really good philosophical on a lot of things. And psychological, what is liffe worth, what i a world thats ..Like the story really is about th world too and their stories, not that lez and oothers dont get really engaging.
hi, is there any chance for subtitles?
Ah yes, Finland Saga
My lazy American mouth is awful at speaking
👍
Do videos on Bojack horseman
Oh god, I love the series but it leaves me so genuinely depressed
Stay safe & please value your health!
i thought this was a kingdom hearts video lolol
Cheers to all my fellow npcs
We're all npcs for the games of others
The lack of Kingdom Hearts in here is disturbing.
I played 2 10 or so years ago, so that's all I got 🤣
@@ProfessorViral The characters really are Nobodies lol. The convoluted story may provide for some interesting material.
Consider that you're smaller than the world, that's your issue guys.
You want to see yourself as a character because you're a part of our pattern.
Don't you get that perspective changes based on distance?
Look at your arm really hard, now the arm muscles are the mc.
Pp
I think is because they appreciate their reality.
A lie is saying reality is ugly art is saying how beutiful it is - sakepear/goku/ me