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The Boy and the Beast is anime meets Disney

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EIC
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Even though the pacing at the end is off, Hosoda’s latest film is filled with well-crafted characters.

With over 16 years of animation and directing experience, Mamoru Hosoda knows how to churn out an anime classic.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, his first non-franchise film, came out 10 years ago and won Animation of the Year from the Japan Academy. His subsequent films, Summer Wars and Wolf Children, won the same title in 2010 and 2013, respectively. It’s easy to see why Hosoda has such an illustrious track record from watching his films: his characters and their relationships are expressive enough to sweep anyone up in a wave of feels.

His latest instalment, The Boy and the Beast, does just that. Perhaps this is why it upheld Hosoda’s legacy at the 39th Japan Academy Prize last March.

The movie first introduces its protagonist, Ren, immediately after losing his mother to a car accident at age nine. With his father estranged and his extended relatives acting coldly towards him, Ren decides to run away. In the streets of Shibuya, he crosses paths with a mysterious individual who asks him to become his apprentice.

In the beast realm of Juutengai (i.e. land of the furries), the Grand Master has decided to retire and become a god — an ability exclusive to those in his position. He has two prospective successors: Iozen, the wise, popular, and responsible obvious choice for the position; and Kumatetsu, the brash and violent dark-horse candidate who’s tough to get along with.

Despite the odds stacked against Kumatetsu, the Grand Master has an affinity towards him, allowing him to compete to succeed him if he takes on an apprentice. When Ren follows him and accidentally stumbles into the beast realm, Kumatetsu makes the controversial decision to take him on, despite him being a human.

The bulk of the film focuses on the relationship between Ren and Kumatetsu. Their characters and relationship dynamic are the crux of the plot and what makes the film evocative. Their arguments and brawls are oddly cute and fun to watch. I thought Ren was a particularly well-developed character. Other high points include how the beast realm is fleshed out: the anthropomorphic characters and their society are very interesting and well conceived.

Animation-wise, it is flawless. Hosoda’s Studio Chizu did another excellent job, particularly with the characters’ movements and fight scenes. The soundtrack was also excellent, matching each scene.

Unfortunately, the story tries to balance too many elements, and is less cohesive as a result. I’ve also noticed a trend in Hosoda’s films where the final third throws pacing completely out the window. The final segment of the film could have been much better foreshadowed. The biggest downfall of this film is that it never explores the force of antagonism. Simply stating that “all humans have darkness within them” feels like a cop-out for not having any better ideas.

The ending was bittersweet, and beautiful despite its flaws. The Boy and the Beast is definitely worth the watch, especially if you’re looking for an anime that feels a little like a Disney movie.

Peak Comics: APPLE ST

By
EIC
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comic-feedthefish (1)

Cannibal Student Union gets snubbed by SFSS

By
EIC
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After many bloody and agonizing weeks, it was announced last Friday that the Cannibal Student Union’s (CSU) application for official registration as a sanctioned club was denied by the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS). With the club being dubbed “the worst piece of nonsense since the rise of the White Student Union,” the CSU’s rejection of club status has left the majority of students feeling safer in classrooms and hallways.

However, while the issue may seem dead and buried to the SFSS, CSU members are in agreement that this is only first blood in a series of lawsuits to come.

“A lot of people think cannibals are just mindless flesh-eaters, similar to zombies, but that’s only half the picture,” said CSU co-president Nick Carrion.

The club, formed by self-proclaimed student cannibals Nick Carrion and Aaron Karkas, claim that the Cannibal Student Union is dedicated to providing representation and a safe space for self-identifying cannibals on campus.

Carrion has called foul in the past on campus security profiling and fears that he might attempt to murder staff members and students for food.

Karkas took time to reassure The Peak, “I always wait at least until the human being has died of illness or natural causes before I consume them.”

However, the SFSS questioned whether cannibalism was in any way worthy of being condoned. Carrion argued, “Cannibalism has been practiced by cultures in Oceania, Africa, and the Americas — who are we to argue with the morals of ancients?”

When it was pointed out that ancient cultures also approved of human sacrifice, pedophilia, and slavery, Carrion said, “Exactly! That just shows they weren’t confined by today’s prudish social conservatism.”

Needless to say, the CSU’s planned lawsuit will be more of a bloody mess than a meal of liver and fava beans.

Peak Comics: The Crapside

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EIC
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0

crapsidetree

Peak Comics: Pun, 2, 3

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EIC
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0

Translink

Netflix ‘border hoppers’ are nothing but self-entitled

By
EIC
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2

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his past March I cut my extravagant cable bill and purchased, for $20, something on Amazon many of you probably didn’t even know existed: a digital television antenna. I know, old school, right?

Now, while I basked in the illegal freedoms of accessing a cheap and extensive American Netflix library through Hola, my virtual private network (VPN), I could fill in the TV gaps with free, pristine-definition CBC, Global, and CTV, among other channels. It’s only the smartest route for today’s cheapskate television viewers, said my rationale.

However, a month later I fleetingly wished I’d never left cable in the first place. Netflix suddenly betrayed my bountiful programming choice for an empty screen that said “Whoops!” and a virtual wall that left me and the other ‘immigrants’ permanently blocked from accessing the American library.

Crushed and dismayed, I accepted my fate as a Canadian viewer and turned to Twitter for consolation. There I found other VPN users angry “AF” that Netflix had finally acted upon last year’s statements on ensuring illegal Canadian users couldn’t joyride through the American abyss of seemingly endless choice.

Yeah, I was peeved. Now I’d have to torrent the rest of American Horror Story. But I’ve since had a chance to collect myself and see the light.

The truth here is that Canadian Netflix users still angry that they can no longer skirt the American border to watch illegal programming are a small but vocal group of self-entitled babies. I understand that many Netflix users are still upset that the company seemingly had no problem with these illegal practices for years, and this sudden change in business model has left border hoppers feeling mistreated. But I’ll confidently state that as unfair as this crackdown may seem, it simply isn’t.

Sit down, hush up, and be happy that you at least have access to a half-decent version of Netflix.

The Canadian Netflix library is significantly smaller than its American counterpart. That doesn’t discount the fact that Netflix is a multinational business that sets its boundaries in a contract we, the customers, readily agree to when we fork over our monthly $10. And while we snivel that our customer service experience was below our standards because ‘Canadians are people too, and we should have access to everything everywhere because that’s freedom of choice,’ we have to remember that we’re still subject to whatever Netflix gives us.

End of story. That’s the business agreement, plain and simple.

Last week, CBC published an analysis on the issue, citing fresh comments and labelling the arguments a border hopping “battle.” But there is no war to be waged here. Netflix has spoken, and it’s decided the time has come to respect Hollywood’s country-exclusive licensing agreements.

Thankfully, CBC also shed light on those who agree with me, feeding me morsels of hope for today’s greedy consumer base. These commenters are similarly fed up with all the first-world “whiners” who feel disadvantaged.

Sorry, Northerners. It’s a shame that Americans won’t share their treasures, but we can’t get everything we want in life for $9.99, even if we knowingly break laws to do so. So sit down, hush up, and be happy that you at least have access to a half-decent version of Netflix. And if you’re a cheapo like me, who’s cut the cable for good, perhaps it’s time to invest in a $20-antenna to replenish the cracks in your abused television soul.

Parking at SFU is the fucking worst

By
EIC
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0

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] am not the first to say that parking at SFU Burnaby is the fucking worst. Anyone who has driven to campus and tried to find a spot can attest that unless you’re here at 8:30 a.m., or after 5:30 p.m., you have to pray to the parking gods for a decent space.

Now, of course there are other options. There’s bussing, walking, and various other modes of self-propelled transportation. Lots of people use those methods to commute every day. Just looking at last semester, there was around 30,000 students, graduate and undergraduate, enroled in classes at SFU. There will always be students who drive to school for one reason or another. Continuing to ignore that entire demographic is negligent of the university.

On top of being inconvenient, parking is expensive. At $3.25 an hour for the occasional commuter, $280 per semester for a pass to the overcrowded outdoor parking lots, and almost $400 per semester for a ‘no-guarantee’ indoor pass, it is pretty clear the Burnaby campus is at a crossroads.

Anyone dropping this kind of cash on a parking space should have the peace of mind that they will be able to park. And yet, here we are. In 2014 — back when those outside lots were called B, C, and Discovery P3 (because that naming scheme makes so much sense) — SFU sold 2,300 permits for fewer than 2,000 stalls. SFU is assuming not everyone is going to need a spot at once, and they are wrong.

Many groups on campus, including the SFSS, have pledged to address the commuter culture at SFU, but I don’t see how that is possible so long as the administration is banking on students not sticking around all day.

SFU needs to do better by their commuting students, staff, and faculty

I’m sure there’s an algorithm somewhere that dictates this makes sense. It’s a parking industry standard to oversell permits at 20–40 percent over capacity. However, this results in people who use the parking lots getting screwed over. The permits sold are monthly, with non-standard parking permits for evenings and weekends. But everyone has different schedules that can’t be accounted for, like occasional users who don’t buy a permit. An entire contingent of the parking calculation is overlooked, and this is what messes up everyone’s parking experiences.

Parking at SFU Surrey isn’t a picnic either. Visitor parking only costs a dollar an hour, and student parking permits cost less than $130 for an entire semester. Unfortunately, student permits are assigned by lottery. Don’t get a permit? Then you’re shit out of luck for the semester.

I wish I could say the Vancouver campus is better, but I’d be lying. SFU Parking recommends four parking lots. Of the recommended lots outside of Harbour Centre locations, only one offers student discounted rates. And those hours are from 2 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. That’s great if you only take an evening class or two, but if Vancouver’s your main campus then you’re competing with everyone else in downtown Vancouver who wants to park their car.

Of course, there are other options that involve taking your car, but are easier on the wallet — and possibly on your luck of finding a spot. Maybe you’ve heard of it before, it’s a phenomenon known as carpooling. And though it’s seen decreased popularity in recent years, maybe it’s time for it to make a comeback.

Not a lot of students know that SFU is a member of the Jack Bell Rideshare program. What’s worse is that a lot of students have probably never even heard of this program. The Jack Bell Rideshare program connects people who need rides in order to lessen the financial burden on all parties involved.

It’s a great idea, but aside from saving a few dollars on gas, there’s not enough of an incentive to carpool. Since SFU students commute from all over the Lower Mainland, finding people who live near you and who keep the same hours is nearly impossible.

Maybe we need to look at how other post-secondary institutions deal with parking. I used to work at UBC and there was always somewhere to park — it was a wonderful thing. The prices were comparable, but I didn’t have the agonizing stress of struggling to find an open lot.

Capilano University has the same space-crunch that all SFU campuses are experiencing. In response, they’ve decided to reward students who carpool. There are designated carpool spots — and, oh yeah, you park for free. You read that right. If you register your carpool group of three or more people, you get a permit that gives you free parking in those designated spots.

Can you imagine a world where you could park at SFU for free? I recognize that there are financial concerns tied to reducing parking fees, but even half-price carpool permits would be fantastic. Section off parts of the outside lots to be carpool spaces only, make students register a carpool group in order to get a pass, and then patrol those lots a little more. SFU needs to do better by their commuting students, staff, and faculty.

I’ve been here two years. I like to drive to school. Half-price parking would make the effort of finding people to carpool with worth it. It would be better for our pockets, better for our environment, and better for our futures.

Always keep your eyes on your children — no matter what

By
EIC
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4

[dropcap]P[/dropcap]arenting is, without a doubt, incredibly tough. When taking children to any public space, extreme vigilance needs to be exercised — vigilance that seemed to be lacking in the case of the three-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure in the Cincinnati Zoo on May 28.

The boy was with his mother enjoying the sights and sounds of their day trip, until it all went awry. The toddler escaped from his mother and, as CNN reported, “went under a rail, through wires, and over a moat wall to get into [an] enclosure.” The boy fell about 15 feet into the shallow moat before the public and Harambe, a large Western lowland silverback gorilla, noticed him.

To save the boy, the zoo’s directors decided to kill the gorilla instead of tranquilizing it, as it could have agitated Harambe even more, and the animal would have taken longer to tranquilize due to its size.

An outcry from animal rights activists has since resulted in a Facebook group and an online petition with almost 500,000 signatures as of publication. Activists are calling on the boy’s parents to be held accountable for the gorilla’s death. I am not an animal rights activist by any means, but I do feel that the parents were and should be held responsible for the death of an endangered animal, and that this should be a lesson in proper parenting for any student hoping to have children.

Harambe was shot and killed due to human error that could have been easily prevented with more vigilance. If this were to continue, we can only imagine the horrific results that could arise. Next time, we might be buzzing about the unsupervised child who ran into oncoming traffic and was hit by a car.

We have a moral obligation, as adults and potential future parents, to ensure the complete safety of our children at all times. This comes about from teaching children at a young age about the dangers that can occur if they wander away from their caregivers.

In my pre-teen years, when my parents went out for a relaxing night on the town, they trusted me with the care and safety of my younger siblings. Another family I regularly babysat for had three children (one of whom was an infant at the time) and a fairly large German shepherd. The kids and I went out for walks to the park, and at all times my eyes were peeled and alert as we crossed streets and walked along sidewalks.

Through my experience, I already fully understand how quick toddlers can be. If I were to turn away at any point, I would be responsible for any harm that arose. I’d have to own that responsibility, and so should the irresponsible mother of the child who fell into the zoo enclosure.

The zoo ultimately had to make a swift decision to save the boy, but the zoo should not be held responsible for the death of Harambe.

Children are flighty and spontaneous creatures, and I’m not calling on humans to be perfect because I know we’re not. But when we begin our parenting years (and for those students who are already parents), we need to realize that, yes, being cautious and vigilant with children is easier said than done; but the fact that an innocent life is in our hands should act as a motivator for us to act responsibly.

New distracted driving fines are great, but not enough

By
EIC
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0

[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]ou should put away the phone when you drive, and not just for my sake or for the safety of others on the road. On June 1, the penalties for distracted driving in BC more than tripled. Yes, you read that right.

Those caught driving while distracted will now receive a minimum ticket of $543 for the first offence, plus four penalty points on their BC driver’s licence. If you do it again within 12 months, you’ll be hit with an $888-ticket. A third offence will earn you a whopping $1,628-ticket, and you could lose your licence for a minimum of three months.

That’s a significant increase. But what’s the real cost of distracted driving? In 2014, distracted driving caused 66 deaths, according to Mike Morris, BC’s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. These deaths were “100 percent preventable,” he said in a public announcement.

The harsh penalty for using a phone is just a reminder that phones are our most common distraction. The efforts made by the government to curb in-car phone use is commendable; but to really eliminate distractions on the road, our own behaviour has to drastically change, namely by removing the other driving distractions we’ve normalized and by changing the way we view the weight of driving entirely.

“The day will come when distracted driving is as socially unacceptable in BC as drinking and driving, or not using your seatbelt,” Les Sylven, chief constable of Central Saanich Police Services and president of BC’s Association of Chiefs of Police, said in a recent speech.

We have to understand that when we get behind the wheel, we’re operating a metal coffin that weighs 1,000-plus pounds, that can speed up to 100-plus kilometres per hour. Staying focused on the task at hand — driving — is so important.

While this new legislation applies to distractions via phone, there are obviously many more causes of distraction. When I’m running late, I take my breakfast and do my hair in the car; I know a lot of people out there who do their makeup while driving, too.

All these are examples of dangerous activities in the car, and while we might make excuses to justify them, we’re really doing more harm than good. Changing norms around common driving sense through respect for other motorists and pedestrians is paramount to reducing collisions, injuries, and deaths. Hopefully this legislation kicks into gear some real, logical realizations among ignorant drivers. It’s safe to say we still have a long way to go before the weight of our actions in the vehicle really hit home with drivers.

Not driving while distracted is a simple act of omission. Make a start with this realization and we’ll all be better for it.

Six ways to get the perfect beach body

By
EIC
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0

Beach season is rapidly approaching, but don’t worry — The Peak has got you covered with the quickest and coolest tricks to get that perfect beach body you’ve been conditioned over years and years to believe is ideal. These tricks will lead you straight to that sweet summer bod!

1) Eat a vegetable or two

Eat some fucking yams. That’s how simple it is. How many? However many yams you want, babe.

2) Exercise

I did three crunches this morning and am I ever feeling the burn. It’s burning my stomach, my legs, my arms, and my home. Actually — that might just be fire. Hm.

3) Sell your soul to the devil

The devil is totally ripped; he could probably train you for the hot summer. The hot, hot, hot summer you’ll be spending in hell for the rest of eternity.

4) Get one of those vibrating belts

Yeah okay, these things admittedly don’t work at all — but as a young girl trying to discover herself and her body, anything vibrating is totally welcome.

5) Get a dog

Dogs are energetic companions and they’d gladly be your beach pal in the hot months. Additionally, dogs love you for your beautiful soul (like my man J. McCartney), and they don’t even understand all these pressures for the perfect body. Dogs believe all bodies are perfect, and they’re probably right, because all dogs are definitely perfect.

6) Go to the beach

Things will probably work out if you just take your body to the beach. However, refrain from getting naked on the child’s beach again — that was a mistake that “you can’t repeat,” according to the kind officer you met last time.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024