Stravaganza and the Strange Case of Monkey Negroes

(NSFW; racism and rape discussion ahead)

In Stravaganza: The Queen in the Iron Mask, Claria must defend her kingdom from a horde of Umber, these mindless gorilla-like beasts who look like Alf with white fur. We eventually learn there’s a poison that infects animals and drives them mad, so the queen sets out to find the source. It’s a dark fantasy tale in the seinen demographic, mixing violence with fanservice. It's not until Volume 2 of the omnibus, however, where this manga hits you with a double whammy of awful content. 

Stravaganza Vol 2. Akihito Tomi, Udon Entertainment, 2015. 

The racism starts as soon as Claria ventures into a vertically-oriented city of Reydin built by the Klord, a BLACK RACE OF MONKEY-TAILED PEOPLE. Having read halfway through the series already, I wanted to believe this was some misplaced form of flattery. “Having a prehensile tail can be cool, right?” Combining that factor with the big lips, and names like Tom Tom and Kum Kum, made such a dream impossible. Dignifying this weird shit would lead to a well-deserved loss of my Black card.

And yet, it was hard to look away from the proverbial train wreck.

Stravaganza Vol 2. Akihito Tomi, Udon Entertainment, 2015. 

I read on as our blonde heroine is forced to kill one of her Klord hosts in self-defense. (He tries licking her and tearing her clothes off, too, as a perversion of the attraction he had while still sane.) The village constable doesn’t care for Claria's explanation, and doesn't believe she's been traveling around for a poison cure. Claria is swiftly thrown in jail, where she is stripped, assaulted, and whipped for supposed spy secrets. It turns out these Klord really love whipping people? 

Stravaganza Vol 2. Akihito Tomi, Udon Entertainment, 2015. 

It would not have taken Akihito Tomi much effort to see how this content might offend. Yes, I understand Stravaganza is fiction. And no, Tomi isn’t obliged to create content anyone agrees with. Most Klord in the comic are nonviolent (until the city is poisoned, that is). In real life, Black people sometimes have big lips and can be quite athletic. But do you see what’s happening here? We can excuse any sort of creative decisions by appealing to tangential facts. What are the relevant facts, then, when it comes to Stravaganza and comic book racism?

Stravaganza Vol 2. Akihito Tomi, Udon Entertainment, 2015. 

While there are other kinds of humanoids in this comic—ogres and giants come to mind—the Klord are the only ones that rely on and reinforce tropes that were used to cause social harms to real people. Now, it’s commonly argued that racism as we know it in America has no cultural context in Japan, so their Jim Crow depictions are abstractions without meaning. I doubt that level of ignorance is possible in 2024, but let’s make that concession: a broader view of racism would at least criticize Tomi’s lazy design choices behind Reydin, the Klord, and their afro-sporting king who looks like he was pulled from a disco party. There’s plenty of contemporary anime and manga that doesn’t raise these flags with its Black characters.

If I finish this series, I’ll use scanlations or something. The idea of paying to read the rest makes me feel icky.

Currently Watching - May 2024

Life’s changed a lot since my posts from TEN YEARS AGO. (I’m bald now, for starters). The shows I watch are often chosen with consideration of my wife’s interests. She’s not an anime maniac like I am, but really enjoyed Frieren last season. 

Here’s what I’m into this month:

Konosuba 3

Konosuba 3 starts off by mocking Kazuma’s trauma from the feature film, Legend of Crimson. It really shouldn’t be funny, but it is, which reminds me a lot of the irreverent comedy you would see in a show like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. From there, Kazuma gets sucked into babysitting a princess, swapping bodies, dying, and some other shit I can’t even get into here. There’s an overarching plot to find lost relics from other reincarnated Japanese like Kazuna, but who cares?

Konosuba’s the kind of series I can’t really explain to people; you just have to watch it. Every character is both stupid and depraved. Every conflict devolves into screaming. It’s pathetic, but so fucking funny.

Date a Live V

I marathoned this show’s previous four seasons last year, which may explains why I can’t follow anything happening this season. The copious amount of spirits Shido has in his harem is also dizzying, so why not add another? The strangest thing is that the opening and closing themes show me exactly what’s going to happen in this season. Like, why? I’m still gonna watch, but damn, leave some things to my imagination.

Like most of the Internet, however, I’m drawn to Kurumi Tokisaki. If there’s a true pairing here, she seems to be The One. I doubt Shido’s the type to choose, though. He’s just gonna go the Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki route and marry all of them, isn’t he.

Spice and Wolf (2024)

Someone recommended the original series to me over a decade ago. From what I can tell, this seems to be a retelling of that story. Being only one episode in, I really like the atmosphere so far. Feels like I’m in store for a Kino’s Journey vibe, filled with repugnant and strange people living lives they’re too self-involved with to rationalize. The early 2000s energy is strong with this one. 

All you need to know is that Holo is a cute wolf-humanoid god, and she’s tired of helping out a host of ungrateful villagers who have abandoned their faith. A traveling merchant is gonna bring her back home so she can… retire, maybe? We’ll see.

Bridgerton Season 3

Not an anime at all but my wife’s fervor for this is as hardcore as any otaku’s. The Polin ship is honestly weird to me; nevertheless, this show gets its claws into you and doesn’t let go. I would love to take a shot every time someone exits a conversation with an awkward “Excuse me.” 

Nelson the Ever Living

It's like, 4:22AM on a Saturday? 

Anyway, last time I posted to The Anime Guardians was ten years ago? That's craaaaazy. A lot's changed, but those details will seep into the blog over time. 

It's no secret I like to write, and a colleague of mine recommended I develop my online presence in preparation for future publishing opportunities, so I figured reanimating this blog would be the best choice. Do people know what Blogger is anymore? I doubt it. But I'm too apathetic to switch to Medium, and too Twitter/X averse to write 52-thread posts about why people should read Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. This is all I know. I need a regular writing practice as I gear up for bigger projects, so why not revive a passion project? 

Anyway, if you've made it this far, thanks. I've unpublished the old posts because they were straight-up cringe. Will someone ungrave them with the Wayback Engine and laugh at my depressive Katawa Shoujo posts? Maybe. But I was 21 years old back then, so shut up. 

In case you've forgotten who I am, I'm Nelson aka @oldmannelson on X. By the time I go back to sleep, hopefully this enthusiasm remains and you won't wait another ten years to hear from me again. Until then, keep watching anime and reading manga and gaming like the otaku you are.