ProfessorViral

With Walpurgisnacht Rising releasing in Japan this Friday, it felt like the perfect time to get my analysis of Homura Akemi back out there (it was struck years ago now). So, over the past few weeks I redid the entire video from script to edit, and I'll be releasing it this Thursday. While my opinion of her remains the same, I've tried to cut out weaker points and add in better ones, fix up awkward wordings and explain what was before simply mentioned. All in all, it feels like a much better video, and if you really want my "predictions" for Walpurgisnacht Rising, they came out naturally in the outro as I spoke candidly.
I didn't plan to have a personal story for this one, and there isn't really one, but when recording the outro I realized I didn't pull this video back out simply because of the movie's timing (after all, a Japanese release doesn't do much for us), I did it to remind myself of what I wrote all those years ago, the danger of how and why Homura defined herself around someone else and relied so heavily on them to exist. I did it because Homura is a rejection of one's life changing, and I've never really wanted mine to. Her story became almost romantic to me, to destroy oneself for the last gasps of bygone days rather than facing new ones you hate. So, this is what I spoke about as it came up.
I hope she has a terrible end, and Thursday will explain exactly why.

See you there
(The video is already available for supporters as well)

6 days ago | [YT] | 213

ProfessorViral

A topic I've been thinking about again recently is forced freedom, the kinds of people who, for one reason or another, can't just live a normal life, whether it's physical or mental. Most of the "rewards" of society and work really don't feel like rewards to me, yet they're required to survive, especially in America where healthcare is tied to full time employment. I don't think I'm "right" about this or anything, but it does feel like for who I am (in this way and others, if you know) I'm forced to fight for freedom I don't necessarily desire the weight of. This is my exploration of that feeling from last year with Samurai Champloo

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 73

ProfessorViral

Do you feel like you have free time? The older I get, the more it feels like responsibilities keep piling up to the point that "free time" feels guilty, as if I should always be getting something done

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 64

ProfessorViral

I've been thinking about Girl's Last Tour a lot recently, the existential dread, and peace, of a world which has ended time and time again merging into a truly beautiful work of art. It's about the inevitable end and how we push forward into it anyway, the point of having a goal even in a world without purpose. It also features some fancy editing I did for the manga panels to appear on screen, which I was proud of!

1 month ago | [YT] | 76

ProfessorViral

Are you afraid of becoming a different person?

After so many years of building myself, and part of my livelihood around philosophy and stories, I'm often terrified at the idea of, whether through interest change or exhaustion, finding myself liking those things less. Although, actually writing this out, I do feel pretty secure in enjoying them, and feel it's just anxiety about current changes otherwise leading me to the fear.

1 month ago | [YT] | 82

ProfessorViral

*Why* is the internet? As in, what does it mean to you? Is it an escape from a suffocating physical space, a chance to reinvent yourself, the path to a career you don't hate, the way you met your best friends, anything else? What opportunities has it given you, and has it made your life better? Let me know down below (in a paragraph or two) for an upcoming video about the topic, but here are some general responses as well:

1 month ago | [YT] | 73

ProfessorViral

After a recent vacation, I was struck with a somber feeling of, almost loss when returning, fearful about how all good times must come to an end. It made me want to hold onto them for dear life, spend every day trying to capture what I loved most about my current life. But, this was me talking myself down from that before, and so I figured it was time to share it again

1 month ago | [YT] | 87

ProfessorViral

Hey everyone, here's a quick update for the next videos if you wanted to watch the media beforehand!

Next up will be Takopi's Original Sin, with a video looking at the 6 episode series quite generally, seeing how it creates a situation of impossible judgement, merging what once seemed black and white into endless grey in a total loss of innocence. It probably works best after watching the show, but it's only about 2-3 hours of watch time!

After that, I'm finally going to talk about one of my favorite movies ever, Wake Up Dead Man (the third Knives Out movie). I've been thinking about it nonstop since it came out last year, and how it makes a case not for any religion, but rather for religious practice, for the motivation which comes from reverence and ritual, and how a search for truth alone without any storytelling doesn't inherently make the world better for us. It's a movie that tears down the main character of the previous two entries, and centers around confession: can we say what needs to be said to make us, and the world, better? Currently working on the script, so it's not final, but I think it's going to be very good.

Moving on it might be the horror of old technology? But I'm still working out the kinks on that one. It has two parts, one about why old tech is so good for invoking horror, and another about why old tech fills me with terror: linking me to the past, to age, to change, my greatest fear. Hopefully I can make something good of it.

All in all, its a stressful time of my life, full of decisions I really don't want to make, but I hope I can come out of it for the better. I'm trying to set myself up so I can give my all to what I do here as much as possible, and maybe next year will be the year things finally turn in that direction again. We'll see. Until then, I appriciate all your love and support, and I hope you're doing well : )

Thanks as always
Viral

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1 month ago | [YT] | 145