Posts by Alexis Harper

  • Love, Agency, and Androids: A Chobits Retrospective

    Chobits uses its post-humanist storytelling to ask questions about the highly personal relationships that humans can develop with something that looks human or shares human qualities, but can never exactly be human. Because the persocoms are almost all built to look like young women, it also creates a space to ask questions about gender roles in relationships and how those perceived as female can be literally objectified. At times, Chobits presents a very compelling and empowering narrative around love, personal choice, and sacrifice. Yet, simultaneously, Chobits fails to reckon with the very questions it raises.

  • Striking that work-life-death metal balance in Aggretsuko

    While the original Aggretsuko shorts were limited in their scope and characterization, the longer episodes of the new series offer a multi-dimensional look into the life of the twenty-something office lady/red panda as she struggles with a daily clerical mountain at work, obnoxious co-workers, a troublesome love life, and her literal chauvinist pig of a boss, Ton. The whimsical setting of a corporate animal farm accentuates the dramatic nature of navigating life as a young working woman.