Huynh - Ninja Scroll

                Ninja Scroll was a very interesting anime film that showed a very different type of entertainment from Akira. This movie showed a lot of supernatural abilities in people, and dealt with the idea of demons and saviors. These ideas can be taken in two different ways, either as part of a religion, like the Shinto belief, or as indications of different traits/qualities of people. In the film, there are eight devils, or demons, that begin to wreck havoc on the world, and are looking to change it in their favor, and as the film goes on, you begin to notice that each demon has their own specific and unique trait. Tessai, is the first demon in the film, and he is one that represents physical strength.

Image from SUPERPOWERwiki

He is not very smart, nor is he very obedient, which is very noticeable in the film, but he surely is the strongest. The next demon to be revealed is Benisato, who happens to have a seductive trait, and uses that as a part of her ability to control people. Mushizo, the next demon, turns out to be the messenger of the story. He does not have many specific unique traits to him aside from his ability to control wasps, but he provides the watcher with a very important piece of information, the information that Gemma has the ability to reincarnate himself, which is how he is still alive today. Majuro Utsutsu is a swordsman demon who happens to be blind. He shows the trait of pride. Every character in the story has some unique trait to them, and all show how it isn’t a good thing to have one good trait, but is important to have a combination of them all.

                The whole idea of the eight demons and the Shogun of the Dark also show some corruption in the government. A bad or evil source is attempting to overthrow the government, and make it all for them. There are also examples of this corruption in the film whenever you see the chamberlain. His focus is also to gain power, even though he isn’t willing to go to the extremes as the Shogun of the Dark to do so.

                All in all, the film Ninja Scroll had many messages, or ideas, in them that can be seen in many different ways by different people, and how you interpret is up to you.

Huynh, Jonathan B.--- Akira

                In the anime film Akira, there showed a lot of corruption in Tokyo. After the atom bomb was dropped, it completely obliterated the town that used to be, and was then controlled by the government. There was a strange feel to the movie that the government was controlling all and the people of Tokyo were there little pawns. This is first noticeable when Tetsuo gets into an accident and the government takes him away. At first, you think that he is just being taken away to a hospital, but soon find out that he has been taken in for experimentation. This is what opened my eyes and allowed me to see how corrupt the government was.

                The government was taking people in and experimenting on them. Tetsuo didn’t notice it at first, but once things started acting weird for him, the government intervened again, and then he began to realize he had power. For a government to cruelly test on people is incredibly corrupt. It shows that there was a point in time in Japan where the government ruled everything and people didn’t have much say in it. They treated their people badly and turned them all into guinea pigs, which got out of hand and ended up getting back at them. The first example from the movie that shows this is how Tetsuo ends up being too powerful and the government loses control of him. He tries to bring back Akira, and ends up blowing up the whole city again, losing control of himself.

Image From Famous Monsters of Filmland

You then find out that this is the second time where the government has ruined the city, and didn’t learn their lesson from it. The first time is when Akira was created and blew up the city. This film ends up showing how there is a serious issue with the Japanese government and how it needs to change. They cannot keep on controlling people without there being some sort of consequence, and Akira, shows exactly that. Where the end result may be a little unrealistic in the movie, it does show that something bad can happen, if change does not.

Huynh - All About Me

Hello everybody!

                My name is Jonathan Huynh. I am here in the school of music studying jazz and I came from Bristol, Connecticut. I came to Loyola so that I could get a great music education and so that I can experience what it is like in a city filled with music and jazz. I do however, enjoy many other things and am willing to give anything I have yet to try a chance. I was very diverse in high school, as I participated in many different activities. I was part of the math team, the bowling team, the varsity football team, the varsity wrestling team, the jazz band, the marching band, the concert band, the choir, and many other groups.

                Aside from school activities, I also did many things outside of school. For work, I did free lance for a computer programming company called Acsys. I also was avid World of Warcraft player and still do occasionally enjoy the game. I used to play Magic the Gathering and would attend F.N.M. weekly and participate in many of those tournaments. I do miss playing M.T.G. but I don’t have anybody here that plays so, if you do, then let me know!

                I have experienced many magnificent things in my life, which include traveling all around the world. I have been all over the U.S. including Hawaii and Alaska, all over South and Central America, Asia, and Australia. One of my biggest and most exciting trips was my People to People trip to China. I was able to travel all over, from Beijing to Hong Kong, and even Shanghai. It’s very interesting seeing how people live differently in different parts of the world. It was the trip of a lifetime and I will never forget the things that I had learned when I was on it. It made me greatly appreciate the things I have here in the United States.

                I may not have chosen to be in this class, but I am open to it and am willing to give it a try. I hope nobody will write me off because I’m not an anime fan, but I do hope you are willing to give me a chance like I am giving to this.

 P.S.- I actually am Chinese, Puerto Rican, Polish, and Native. And i can speak some Chinese ( i understand it better ). AND I know what this shirt says...(it was a Christmas present)